Nothing Is Harder Than Love
by Hitotsune-Kozo
Summary: Rated M for content. Takes place in the AU I established with Raven's Story. In this, Jinx has left Kid Flash because she didn't really like him THAT way, Raven overcomes her grief over Terra's death, and they both learn that . . .  Raven X Jinx
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. This is my second fanfic, and also my second yuri fanfic. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**Summary:** We all know that it was thanks to Kid Flash that Jinx switched sides and fought with all of the various Titans. The premise is that the relationship hinted at between the two towards the end of the series was merely a misunderstanding by the other Titans. Much to Raven's relief. As stated above, this story will take place in the universe of the TV series; however, it will more specifically be taking place within the universe I established with my first fanfic, "Raven's Story". I plan to show the ups and downs of a relationship between Raven and Jinx, as they deal with the various issues that arise between the half-demon and the ex-criminal; issues that will alternate between strengthening their relationship and attempting to bring it down. There will be angst, romance, humor, and . . . . well, pretty much everything that is part and parcel to any relationship. Including betrayal.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Prologue - This Beginning Could Be The End**

Raven could see the hatred and pain in her eyes. She couldn't tell which one was greater, the hatred or the pain; although, honestly, it wasn't really important. The gothic-seeming Teen Titan searched her adversary's eyes for any hint of forgiveness, or anything else for that matter, but found nothing. Even though she had expected that, Raven was still hurt. _Although my pain is nothing compared to hers_, she thought, feeling tears gather in her eyes. _But . . . do I even deserve to be forgiven? What I did was unforgivable._ Raven knew she could win, knew that her abilities gave her an edge over the other young woman, but she found that she didn't want to win. After all, what would be the point?

"Hello, Jinx," she said, barely managing to keep looking at the ex-Titan. Neither her nor Jinx noticed the fighting between their respective teammates.

"Raven," the pink-haired girl said, her voice full of such loathing and hatred that depressed Raven even further. The two just continued to stare at each other, both needing to say something but unable to find the words to express their feelings.

"Nothing I can say," the Titan said to her fomer teammate - and ex-girlfriend, "would ever make right what I've done to you. Nothing I can do would ever bridge the abyss now between us." Raven reached up and undid the clasp holding her cloak on. She now stood only wearing the dark, almost black 3/4-length shirt and similar-colored pants that had become her new 'uniform' over the past couple of years. Her shoes were the same kind they had always been, though one size larger now. She'd let her hair grow out a little, so it now ended just below her shoulders. A few minutes passed, but still nothing further was said. Raven sighed, then felt a single tear begin its lonely trek down her left cheek. "My whole life, I tried to fight the evil destiny I was prophesied to have," she said softly. "I failed, but I was able to fix that thanks to my friends. It was as though it had never happened." Looking Jinx in the eyes, still seeing the same emotions of hate and pain there, she added, "But I guess I did fulfill that prophecy in a way; when I hurt you, I became more evil than even my father ever dreamed of being."

"Do you want forgiveness?" Jinx snarled venomously, but her ex-girlfriend shook her head.

"Even a murderer can be given forgiveness," was the soft-spoken, forlorn reply. "But an eternity could pass and I would still not be worthy of such a gift."

"Then let's get started, and see if you're right!" the hex-powered girl yelled, and charged at Raven, who didn't move. The leader of the new H.I.V.E. Five expected the Titan to dodge or block her spin kick, and so was actually shocked when the heel of her foot connected with the side of Raven's head, sending the super hero twisting through the air to hit the ground and skid several feet. Coughing and shaking her head, Raven groaned in pain and wobbily stood up - to receive a haymaker on the opposite side of her face. Knocked to the ground again, she tried to stand up but only made it as far as her hands and knees before getting kicked by Jinx like a punter trying for a 70-yard field goal. Once again, she was acquainted with unpowered flight before getting introduced to a cinderblock wall, leaving it cracked. Hitting the ground again, Raven coughed, hard, and felt some blood come up this time. It trickled from one corner of her mouth, though she wiped that away as she slowly and painfully stood up. Looking back at Jinx, she noted that the other young woman seemed a little surprised - something different from the hatred and pain she'd displayed before.

"What are you doing?" Jinx snapped at her.

"Nothing," Raven replied.

"You're not fighting!" she yelled.

"That is true."

"Why not?"

"Because I do not want to."

_That_ took Jinx aback; she hadn't been expecting an answer like that. She ranted, "But you can win! You can beat me like you always did before! Why aren't you doing it now?"

"I have hurt you too much already," Raven told her, another lonely tear falling down her face. "I do not want to hurt you anymore." Looking her former love in the eyes, she added, "Even if it means my death, I will not fight back against you." Spreading her arms out some, she told Jinx, "Hit me all you want to, use all of your power if you choose. No pain you can inflict on me would ever equal the pain I inflicted on you."

That admission stunned Jinx more than a little; her mouth gaped open in spite of her efforts to hide her reaction. She had come to this fight intending to physically hurt Raven as much as she could, to make her suffer in body as Jinx had suffered in spirit. She expected, hoped, that Raven would stop her - as the Teen Titans had done so often before in the past. But here was her dark-haired siren, her salvation and damnation, not just refusing to fight but having never intended to fight back in the first place.

"Why?" Jinx whispered softly, almost unaware that she had spoken.

"You will not believe me, Jinx," Raven told her, "but it is because I love you."

As she had expected, the admission set Jinx off again. Screaming "Liar!", she charged the Titan and sank a fist into her gut. The force of the punch drove all of the air from Raven's lungs, and caused her to cough up more blood. But it didn't stop there. Jinx continued punching her, hitting her face, ribs, stomach, chest; everywhere she could reach. The entire time she was screaming, calling Raven a liar. Even though Cyborg, Robin (now going by Nightwing), Starfire, and Beast Boy (now going by Changling) had taken out the other members of the new H.I.V.E. Five, not one of them moved to Raven's aid; she'd demanded that they not do so, no matter what. She'd made them promise, and though all four of them were dead set against it they had, in the end, made that promise.

After a few minutes, Jinx's punches came slower and with less force, until she was just hitting Raven's shoulder with one hand while holding onto her other shoulder with the other hand. She was crying now, the tears falling down her pale-skinned face like a river over a steep cliff. She was no longer screaming 'liar' at Raven; just saying it softly as though trying to convince herself of something she didn't really believe but felt she desperately needed to simply to avoid facing the truth. Jinx didn't know it, but right now she was the only thing keeping the now badly-injured Raven standing. Focusing on her opponent's face after long minutes of seeing nothing but the blinding rage of self-denial, she saw that one of Raven's eyes had swelled up completely, she was bleeding from several cuts on her face and head - and blood and was running from both corners of her mouth. Releasing her grip in shock at the sight, she felt a deep, wrenching pain as Raven collapsed to the ground like a puppet without strings. She looked down at her hands, at the bruised and split knuckles covered with blood - almost all of it Raven's.

"No," she whispered in denial. "No." She looked at Raven's barely conscious form laying there on the cold, unfeeling ground and fell to her knees without realizing it. "It can't be true," she whispered. "It can't be true."

Coughing, Raven managed to open her semi-swollen left eye and tried to focus on Jinx. "Why . . . . . . . not?" she croaked out before coughing again. She was hurt, very bad. She knew that several of her ribs were broken; she doubted she had more than one rib that wasn't broken, fractured, or damaged in some way. She could tell, even without using her powers, that she had multiple internal injuries of varying severity; though nothing that could be considered 'light'. Her friends had argued against this, saying that she should fight, that she could explain everything to her. Raven knew better; she had known Jinx far better, far more intimately, than they ever would. She knew the pain the other girl would be in, knew that no amount of words could ever make up for what she'd done (as she had told Jinx just a few minutes ago). She knew that Jinx would fight far more viciously, with far more power, than ever before. She suspected Jinx would try to inflict pain, that winning their fight wouldn't be important to the young woman. Raven didn't believe she deserved to fight back, didn't deserve to avoid the pain Jinx would want to cause. So she had vowed, when they crossed paths again, not to avoid it at all.

She was glad her friends had kept their promises.

Then she felt a gentle caress on her check. Blinking her one semi-good eye, Raven just barely managed to focus on Jinx's face. She was more than a bit surprised at this; after all, she didn't believe she deserved to be loved by anyone anymore. But she was happy Jinx was there, and tried to smile at her. But her pain and injuries wouldn't let it happen. Something must have shown through, though, for she saw a smile on the other girl's face. At least, with her limited vision, it looked like a smile.

"Why, Rae?" Jinx said softly, using Raven's nickname. "Why did you let me do this to you?"

"Because . . . . I . . . . deserved it," she managed to say before coughing painfully again. Jinx violently shook her head.

"You didn't deserve this," the other girl said, the tears falling harder now. "Not from me; especially from me."

"After what . . . I did to . . . you," Raven replied, trying a little harder now to breath, "I know . . . deserve . . . worse. This was . . . all I could think . . . of."

"You did hurt me," Jinx admitted. "You hurt me worse than I had ever been hurt before. I was so hurt I don't remember much of the first months after it all." Looking back down at Raven's head, cradled more gently in her lap than a newborn being held by its mother, she hazarded a smile (though it was closer to a grimace). "And then the pain of it all nearly overwhelmed me. Or maybe it did; I don't know anymore. Then came the anger, and all I wanted to do was hurt you like you'd hurt me. But I didn't know how."

Raven began coughing again, bringing back to Jinx's awareness just what she'd done to the young woman she still loved. Drawing in a ragged breath, Raven said, "I do not . . . . blame you . . . for that. You did not deserve . . . . . . what I did to you."

"And you didn't deserve this!" she said fiercely. Raven tried to disagree, but Jinx didn't give her the chance. "I'm worse than whatever you had done! I wanted to hurt you to make my own pain go away! To forget the hole in my soul that you had caused!" She was still crying, and she didn't think she could stop crying. And she knew that she didn't want to stop. "But all I did was make it worse!" she went on. "I did what you were always afraid of doing! I lost control of anger, of myself, and . . . and . . ."

"You had a reason . . . to," Raven told her.

"No!" Jinx said, raising her voice. "No! I didn't! What you did may have been the worse thing to ever happen to me in my entire life, but it was no reason for me to do this to you!"

The other Titans just stood by, watching, but for a different reason than their promise to Raven. They had had no idea of just how much Jinx had been hurt; she'd vanished shortly after the incident. And they had had no idea of how much pain - and guilt - Raven had been feeling. And now, they were seeing it in a most brutal way. Nightwing started to take a step, but was stopped by Starfire.

"No, love Nightwing," she said softly. "This is not for us to do the interfering with."

"But Raven needs to get to a hospital," he insisted quietly. "She could be dying, and we should be doing something."

"This was her choice," he was reminded. "It would not have been right of us to stop her."

"But look what happened, Star," he argued.

"I know," she agreed. "It hurt me, too, to watch her not defend herself. But it was her choice."

"She's right, dude," Cyborg said. "We may've hated standing aside, not helping her out, but helping her was out of the question."

"We can help her now, though!" he snapped. But his friend only shook his head. "It's between them two now."

"I wish . . . . . I could take away your . . . . . pain," Raven gasped out before coughing some more.

"I wish I could take back what I've done to you," Jinx said, caressing Raven's face again.

"I . . . . . . . still love you . . . . . . you know," she told her, to which Jinx nodded.

"I know," she replied. She reached up a trembling hand to try to caress her face and would've failed had Jinx not grasped her hand and brought to her own face. "I can't forgive you-"

"It . . . is okay."

"You didn't let me finish," Jinx admonished with a small, fragile smile. Drawing in a deep breath and letting it out, she went on. "I can't forgive you, Raven, because I now realize that because of how much I still love you that there is nothing to forgive."

Hearing that made Raven's eyes try to widen, though one couldn't and one was barely able to. She tried to speak, but couldn't find any words. And then it didn't matter; the darkness she'd tried to hold at bay, so she could speak to the one person who truly mattered to her, overcame her.

"Raven?" Jinx whispered apprehensively. She felt as though her heart was being crushed to nothing as she watched Raven's one semi-open eye slowly close. "Raven?" she said louder. And as realization stole over her, she clutched the woman she loved tighter to her and screamed out, "RAVEN!"

**To Be Continued . . . . . . . . .**

**Author's Note:** Well, there it is. The first chapter of my second fanfic. Which also happens to be the first chapter of my first multi-chapter fanfic. As I said before, this story takes place within the universe I established with "Raven's Story". If you've made it to where you're reading this message, then I hope you enjoyed it. I will wait to work on the next chapter until I see how this one was received.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. This is my second fanfic, and also my second yuri fanfic. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**Author's Note:** Chapter 1 begins shortly after the movie Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo. As noted in the prologue (as well as my one-shot "Raven's Story"), in this alternate universe it was Raven and Terra who got together during Terra's appearance(s) in the series, rather than Terra and Beast Boy. I won't explain any more, since that would introduce spoilers. Now, since I assume y'all are impatient to get to this chapter, I'll stop talking now, lol.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Chapter 1 - Where 'It' All Began**

_Three Years Ago_

Although it was a bright and sunny mid-afternoon day for Jump City, and the Titan's Tower by extension, Raven's room was as dark and 'gloomy' as ever. Raven, as had become her custom after she had come out of the depression she'd sunk into after Terra's death, meditated in her room about this time. She was levitating over the exact center of her bed; the reason for this being that following her 'recovery' she had still been in a somewhat fragile emotional state and Cyborg had startled her during a meditation and caused her to lose focus and fall to the floor. She had improved and regained her normal level of focus since then, but her friends still didn't want to disturb her when she meditated - unless it was a Titans problem. Though Starfire was her closest friend since they had literally walked in the other's shoes, it had been Cyborg who had helped her through her grief over losing Terra. That journal he had given her had been a real life-saver, and though she had since filled that particular one she decided to continue writing in a journal.

Raven knew that her friends were still worried about her, and she knew they would continue to do so. She was still somewhat withdrawn from them, though not as bad as when she'd first become a Teen Titan. After the 'adventure' in Tokyo, she began contemplating what life outside of the Titans would be like. Though she hadn't discussed such a thing with the others, she knew that they would support her no matter what her decision. That idea, about 'retiring' from the Teen Titans, was one of the things she meditated on. There was one other matter that she meditated upon, one that had helped her finally move past her grief and on with her life was encountering a mysteriously resurrected Terra during a battle near a school. After the battle, she'd sought out Terra and the two had had a long conversation. Raven had let her former love go, after learning that she was happy with the life she was now living.

Sighing a little, Raven ended her meditative session a little earlier than normal and opened her eyes. The first thing that caught her attention after coming out of her trance was the same thing that always drew her eye after 'awakening' from meditating: a picture taken of her and Terra after the latter's return to the Titans. It was from their first 'official' date, and showed Raven in a rare unguarded moment. Raven smiled a little forlornly at the picture, knowing that such a moment was nearly nonexistent now. Unfolding from her lotus position, she got off her bed and left her room.

The Tower was deserted except for her; Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire had all gone to hang out at the mall. Walking around the Tower, Raven began to realize that, even including her dates with Terra, she didn't really have a 'social life' outside of the Titans. Especially now. She had places she went to in Jump City to simply relax and pretend to be a civilian, but she didn't interact with anyone at those places. Terra had gone with her before her betrayal and death, but it was just to be with Raven - which Raven hadn't minded at all. _Perhaps I should go to that 'coffee house' I usually went to_, she mused. _I have not been there since . . . well, since Terra's death._ Making her decision, she went to back to her room and changed into black slacks that came down to mid-shin, a dark purple sleeveless turtleneck shirt, black ankle shoes (not her uniform shoes), and a knee-length jacket that matched her shirt. Now dressed in her 'casual' clothes, Raven left the Tower to go and be 'normal' for a little bit. Of course, she didn't know that today would be the start of something that alter her life forever.

In an apartment in a 'middle-class' section of Jump City, another pale-skinned young woman was also deciding to venture out into the city. Her hot pink-colored hair wasn't done up in her trademark style, but hung down around her neck and shoulders; she'd just gotten out of the shower and hadn't done her hair yet. Right now, wearing a black camisole top and hot pink lycra shorts, she stood scowling at the clothes she'd laid out on her bed prior to taking her shower.

"Damnit!" Jinx swore. "I don't have anything that isn't either a 'uniform' or 'Saturday casual!" She blamed Kid Flash for that second one, of course; though kinda cute, the boy had no idea what a romantic date really was. Sighing, she tried to find a combination of _something_ that would work for just a walk through the city. In the end, she went with plain black stockings, calf-length black boots, a dark blue mini-skirt, a black tank-top, and a dark blue three-quarter length denim jacket. After working her hair up into its accustomed appearance, she added a light pink blush to her cheeks and walked out of her apartment.

Walking along the streets, and heading nowhere in particular, Jinx took a few moments to think on the mind-boggling turns her life had taken. She'd been one of the star students at the H.I.V.E. academy, fought the Teen Titans (losing a lot more often than winning), tried to become like her idol Madame Rouge only to turn on her, and left her team the H.I.V.E. Five to become an honorary Titan and help save the world. _And then I dump the guy who convinced to change sides just because I only liked him as a friend_, Jinx thought to herself, a small smirk on her face. Kid Flash had just shrugged and said, "Okay," as though it was no big deal. Which was only a little upsetting to her; she'd thought that she liked him. _He _did_ help me open myself up to the opportunities I hadn't known existed_, she acknowledged. She still talked to him, and considered him one of her closest Titans-affiliated friends, but knew that their relationship was purely platonic friendship. _Besides, he's dating that arrow-slinging girl now_, Jinx thought. _And she seems nice. Hopefully she'll last longer than I did!_ Chuckling softly, Jinx shook her head and looked to she where she was. She'd been so absorbed in her thoughts that she'd walked further than she'd intended. Shrugging, she decided to just wing it; which had been her usual method of going through life.

Looking around, she noticed someone that seemed awfully familiar to her. Considering she was only seeing the back of the young woman's head, Jinx wasn't surprised that she couldn't tell who it was, though her haircut teased the back of her memory. _Where have I seen that style before?_ she wondered. When the girl turned her head to look at something, Jinx blinked upon recognizing Raven. _What's she doing here?_ she asked herself, feeling a little startled. Last she'd heard, from Cyborg no less, was that Raven didn't really leave the Jump City Titan's Tower much - except for missions and such. _I wonder if she's still thinking about Terra?_ Jinx pondered; though Raven had been a constant adversary to her when she had been a villainess, she remembered hearing all about the fight that had ended up with both Slade and Terra dead and how it had affected Raven. Although she would have taken great joy in defeating Raven in a fight, she still remembered feeling sorry for the pale-skinned Titan. _I can't imagine going through what she did_, the ex-villainess thought. Then, a feeling of melancholy drifted over her. _I've never gotten that close to anyone to wonder about the possibility of losing them._ She watched as Raven headed towards a coffee shop that actually had a pretty good selection of coffee _and_ tea flavors. Stopping at the corner across from the little cafe, Jinx actually hesitated. _I know I've reformed and all, and I'm sure she knows that, too, but would she want me to bother her?_ she asked herself. _I mean, she _is_ Raven, after all._ Torn between wanting to leave the other girl alone and a desire to sit with and talk to her, Jinx decided to do the seemingly more reckless thing and walked across the street and into the cafe.

Raven wasn't even aware that someone had entered the cafe; she was sitting at a little two-seat table that was, incidentally, as far from the door as possible. She was alternating between staring into her tea and sipping it without moving her gaze. Her thoughts weren't in the cafe; they were in the past as she remembered the last time she came in her. It had been a few days before Terra's betrayal, and she had noticed that her beloved had seemed oddly apprehensive. _I know I have thought this before_, Raven told herself, _but I still can not help but wonder if I should have pressed her further about it. Perhaps, if I had, things would have turned out differently._ Sighing, she absentmindedly took another sip of her tea.

"You know," a familiar voice said, "a face as beautiful as yours shouldn't look as sad as it does."

Looking up, Raven was surprised to see Jinx standing there, holding a cup of something. Several things threw the Titan off about the ex-villain: she was in this particular cafe, she wasn't wearing her trademark outfit, and she didn't have the snippy, biting attitude Raven was used to getting from her. "Mind if I sit with you?" the pink-haired girl asked. Raven nodded, and she sat down. "I'd give you a penny for your thoughts," Jinx asked, "but I know they're worth a lot more than that and I barely had enough money for this latte here, so I know I can't afford it."

Raven couldn't help it; she chuckled a little. This made Jinx feel better because she wanted the dark-haired Titan to at least accept her - and for some strange reason because she hated seeing the girl looking so sad. "Everything okay?" she asked. Raven sighed again, though she was in a little better mood than before, and said, "I am . . . not real sure."

"Wanna talk about it?" Jinx asked, causing Raven to look at her in surprise. Truth be told, she was just as surprised as the other girl.

"You . . . _want_ to hear about my problems?" Raven said, a little suspicous.

"I know, I know," Jinx agreed, "it's a little weird for me. Okay, more than a little weird. But, yes, I do."

"Why?"

"Honestly? I'm a little unclear about that myself. Saying 'We're both Titans, and we should help each other out' is kinda true, but not, you know?"

Raven nodded; she understood exactly what the ex-villain meant. Thus encouraged, Jinx went on.

"I was just walking through town, no real reason, and saw you come in here," she said. "I . . . I wondered about how you were doing, if you were okay, if you were thinking about Terra, and if you needed someone to talk to who wouldn't judge you at all." That last part came out in a rush. Raven stared at her, and Jinx began to blush; she hadn't meant to say that last thing. Clearing her throat a little, she took an intense interest in her latte.

"Jinx?" Raven asked.

"Y-yes?" she replied, slowly meeting the other girl's gaze.

"Are you . . . are you saying . . . you want to be my friend?" she asked. Jinx nodded, not trusting herself to speak. And then Raven smiled. It was a small one, barely filling the minimum requirements for a smile, but it was a smile nevertheless. To Jinx, who had secretly crushed on Raven before the whole Terra thing, it was like the full moon appearing from behind storm clouds. To Raven, it came was as much a surprise as the earlier chuckle was; because it was the first time in a long time that she'd felt the emotions of joy and happiness.

"You know," Raven said, "there is a nice park a few blocks from here if you want to go walk. With me, that is. Or alone, if you would prefer." Raven decided to stop speaking right then; for some reason, she felt a little nervous. Jinx, too, was puzzled by the semi-rambling of Raven. Then she became aware of what Raven had said.

"Sure," she agreed, smiling back at the other girl. "That sounds like a good idea."

The two girls finished their respective drinks in companionable silence, then left the cafe and walked side-by-side to the park Raven had mentioned. Neither spoke, just yet, but neither really felt the need to. Each felt as though they had made a new, though surprising, friend, and was looking forward to what would hopefully be a long-lasting friendship.

And while every cloud has a silver lining, sometimes you still have to worry about the cloud.

**Author's Note 2:** First chapter is now up. I'm surprised at how quickly this one came to me, and hope it turned out alright. Read and review, please.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. This is my second fanfic, and also my second yuri fanfic. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Chapter 2 - When Burdens Are Shared**

"So this is where you go to just . . . take a walk?" Jinx asked without being sarcastic or snide. It actually wasn't a bad little park; nicer than some of the bigger ones, since it seemed to be intended for just people walking or strolling. There were benches, of course, and picnic tables, but none of the stuff often found in most parks (things like slides, swings, and other 'playground' equipment; also missing were the tennis courts Jinx had seen at other parks).

"It is . . . where I used to go," Raven admitted, hesitating only a little. Her companion understood the reason for the hesitant admission, and didn't hold it against her. Without really considering her actions, Jinx moved a little closer to Raven as they walked and put an arm around the somewhat taller girl's shoulders. If anyone had been paying attention to the two, and no one was, it would've been hard for them to tell who was more surprised by that move. "I've never been able to get close enough to anyone to even pretend to understand what you must have gone through," Jinx said, stunning them both further with that confession. Jinx, because that wasn't what she meant to say; Raven, because she never expected the hex girl to confide something that personal to her.

"Um, sorry," Jinx mumbled. Raven shook her head a little.

"There is nothing to apologize for," she told her. Then Raven decided to share something personal as well. She wasn't sure why, but she chose to do it anyway. "I never expected to get that close to anyone myself."

_That_ stopped Jinx for a minute. Though she had a way with words, always having something to say about anything at anytime, all she could articulate was, "Huh?" Raven felt another small, barely there smile grow on her face. "It is true," she admitted.

"How's that?" Jinx asked. "I mean, from what I heard as a villain, and since becoming a Titan, you and Terra were deeply in love. Even though you hadn't really been together all that long."

"When I was born," Raven began, hardly believing she was confessing this to Jinx (though her friends knew the story, of course), "the monks of Azarath looked into the future and saw that my destiny, my whole reason for existing, was to serve as a portal for my father, Trigon, to use to return to this dimension to destroy it."

"Whoa!" Jinx exclaimed. "No way!"

"They did their best to ensure that it would not come to pass," she went on, feeling a little amused at the other girl's reaction. "Training me to control my emotions, and to control my powers since they are linked to my emotional state."

"That part I figured out," Jinx deadpanned, causing Raven to chuckle a little. Hearing that sound from her caused Jinx to feel a little . . . different. She enjoyed hearing the other girl laugh for some reason, and for another unknown reason enjoyed being the one to make her laugh. _Too weird, but what the hell_, she thought. _She isn't _that_ dissimilar from me._

"I, too, sought to deny my destiny," Raven told her. "I helped people out, tried to be a hero in the vague hope that it would forestall my dark destiny."

"Kinda poetic there, Sweets," Jinx quipped, causing Raven to blush - which made the sorceress stare at her. _Now _that_ is something I've_ never_ seen _her_ do_, she admitted silently. Then she smirked on the inside; _But I wouldn't mind seeing it again._

Swallowing to give herself a second to collect her thoughts, Raven continued. "It did not work, though. Not even being a Teen Titan prevented it. I . . . I fulfilled my destiny." She looked down at her feet, then hesitantly looked over at Jinx as though waiting for a response.

"So . . . then what happened?" the pink-haired girl asked. "I mean, obviously this Trigon, who is some kind of inter-dimensional monster that just happens to be your dad, failed. This dimension is still here."

"He did fail," the dark-haired girl confirmed. "I stopped him." Before Jinx could ask, Raven explained, "After allowing him access to our dimension, I regressed into a seven-year-old child. That happened because I felt so helpless and afraid. But Robin, with help from a resurrected Slade, found me and helped me feel strong again. I changed myself back to my actual self, and not stopped my father from completing his goal but restored the world back to its . . . well, pre-Trigon state, I guess you could say."

"Damn, Sweets," Jinx said in awe. "You're one bad ass piece of candy, ain't'cha?"

Again, Raven blushed at her words, causing the girl to grin broadly this time. _Why am I reacting like this?_ Raven asked herself. _Blushing is an emotional reaction, but I am controlling my emotions right now. Right?_e

Before Raven could comment, Jinx said, "My story isn't as exciting as yours is."

In response, Raven merely raised an eyebrow. Jinx laughed. "It's true, though," she insisted. "I'm bad luck; you've fought me enough times to know that." No response beyond another eyebrow-raising. "Alright, fine," Jinx said, though she wasn't serious about being reluctant and knew that her new friend knew that. "I ran away from home because nobody understood me. I didn't have any money to get things, and no friends to turn to for help, so I became a thief. My . . . activities caught the attention of the H.I.V.E., and so I ended up a student there." She shrugged, and said, "The rest you pretty much know."

"I am sure there is more to it than that," Raven said, but chose not to press the issue. On an impulse she didn't quite understand, she asked, "Would you like to hear about Terra?"

Jinx was taken aback by the question; though she was, indeed, very curious about that, she had expected to have to cajole the story out of Raven. And she was offering to tell her that. "Only if you want to tell it to me," she told her. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to know, but I wasn't going to make you tell me. Right now, that is."

Raven felt a surge of gratitude towards Jinx. While her friends had said the same things, they said them quite often. And most of the time, especially recently, they tried to get her to talk about Terra without actually trying to seem like they were. If it weren't for the control she once again had over her emotions, Raven felt like she would've lost it with her friends. She really didn't have many friends, and didn't want to hurt them when they were only trying to help.

"It is okay," she told Jinx. "I . . . do not know how much I want to share right now, though."

"Then don't worry about it, Sweets," Jinx replid, grinning as Raven blushed once again. It wouldn't have been noticeable if she hadn't been looking for it. "Just tell me when you're ready. How about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?"

"When you feel more comfortable telling me about you and Terra, I'll tell you about me and Kid Flash."

Raven blinked. "You two are not together anymore?" she asked, surprised.

"Haven't been for quite some time," the other girl confirmed. "But that's a story for another time."

"Very well," Raven said. "It is a deal."

When Robin and the others got back to the Tower, they found it empty.

"Wasn't Raven here when we left?" he asked, looking around.

"She was when we left," Cyborg agreed. "Maybe she went out."

"But friend Raven has not done the going out since friend Terra died," Starfire said, not sure if she should be happy or concerned.

"I think it's a good thing," Beast Boy said. When everyone looked at him, he just shrugged. "Well, it shows that she's getting better, right?"

"You know, BB, you're right about that," Cyborg said. "Terra's death _did_ hit her harder than us, since they were closer. This shows that she's workd past all of that pain."

"She should have left a note or something," Robin said.

"You need to chill out a little, Robin," the cybernetic Titan said. "You ain't Batman, dude."

_That_ comment hit Robin hard, because he hadn't realized he was acting like his old mentor. Sighing, he said, "You're right, Cyborg. I guess I'm just worried about her."

"I do not think we need to worry about friend Raven," Starfire said. "I am sure that, wherever she is, she is safe."

"One contraction."

"No."

"That's a word, not a contraction."

"I said no."

"At least you're up to three."

"You can count. Congratulations."

"Ooooh, sarcasm. Big step."

"You are not helping yourself, you know."

"Bite me."

"Where?"

Jinx blinked. She hadn't expected _that_ comeback, especially from _Raven_. A huge grin that threatened to split her face in half appeared on her face. "Now, _that's_ what I'm talking about!" she said, laughing. "Damn, that was good!" Raven blushed, a little embarrassed by Jinx's reaction; though it had been a few hours since they 'ran into' each other at the cafe, they hadn't left the park since they got there. Though the dark-haired Titan had yet to talk about Terra, the two of them had been talking about their lives outside of their 'professons'. Raven didn't have much to talk about, there, except for her life on Azarath prior to arriving on Earth. Jinx, though, had a bundle to tell, though it mostly consisted of tales of her thievery before being recruited to the H.I.V.E. Academy.

"I . . . . picked it up from one of Cyborg and Beast Boy's arguments," she admitted.

"So they aren't totally useless, I see," Jinx replied. Stretching her arms above her head, she asked, "So, Sweets, what now?"

Once again, Jinx's new nickname for Raven caused her to blush - which the pink-haired Titan had been expecting. "I don't know," Raven admitted. Jinx stared at her. "A contraction! Oh, yeah! I knew you had it in you, Sweets!" Laughing at Raven's discomfort at her antics, Jinx flipped and cartwheeled around the other girl.

"You are crazy, you know that?"

"So I've been told!" came the giggling reply. Stopping, Jinx looked at Raven with a slight smile on her face. "You should probably be getting back to that Tower, though, right?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "I'm sure Robin and the others are worried about me, considering how I have been acting lately."

"Well, then, how about we meet at the cafe again tomorrow?" the other girl suggested.

"That . . . would be fun," Raven hesitantly agreed. "Same time?"

"You got it," Jinx said. "You feel better now? Everything okay?"

The concern in her voice cause a strange, yet warm, feeling to blossom in Raven. She didn't know why, but Jinx's concern touched her.

"Actually," she said, "yes, I am. I feel better than I have for a while."

"Good," Jinx replied. She leaned over and gave Raven a quick peck on the cheek before back-flipping off through the park. "See ya tomorrow, Sweets!" she shouted. Raven stood there in shock for several seconds before slowly raising a hand to the side of her face that had been kissed. She stared after Jinx long after the girl had disappeared, unaware that there was a small smile on her face or the beginning of tears in her eyes.

Back at the Tower, Cyborg was just starting to cook - in spite of the tofu-oriented Beast Boy's attempts to help - when Raven walked in to the main area.

"Hey, Raven!" he said. She didn't seem to hear him as she passed through the area heading to her room. While that wasn't much of a deal any more, the expression on her face shocked everyone. No one had ever seen Raven smile like that since Terra had died.

"Something's wrong with her," Beastboy deadpanned. Cyborg and Robion could only nod in agreement while Starfire, in her typical innocence, asked, "Is there something wrong with her smile?"

**Author's Note:** And that's the end of Chapter 2. Thank you guys for your reviews of the prior chapters; they've actually helped finish this chapter. I just hope it's as liked as the ones that came before. So, read and review, please! And if you're reading this, then all you need to do is review. Just as a teaser, there's a gonna be a surprise in the next chapter if I get reviews for this one. :D


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. This is my second fanfic, and also my second yuri fanfic. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Chapter 3 - What Just Happened?**

For Raven, the next day began pretty much the way all of her days had begun. She'd wake up, fumble in her bed for a split second before remembering that she was the only in it now, and feel a little depressed about that. Then she'd go clean herself up and get some food and tea to bring to her room for breakfast. _This_ particular morning diverged from the pattern she'd followed for some time in one rather small, yet highly significant, way: she had her breakfast on the couch in the 'living room' of the Tower. Of course, this deviation from her usual pattern immediately drew the attention of her friends, all who sat at the dining table staring at her - including the somewhat clueless yet infinitely understanding alien princess. Raven, of course, was unaware of the attention her behavior was drawing, and merely ate her food (this morning, two slices of toast with three strips of bacon) and drank her tea - on 'auto-pilot', for her thoughts were still on her trip yesterday afternoon. When she finished eating, she shocked everyone once again by saying, "Breakfast was well made," to Cyborg on her way through the kitchen. After she'd gone down the hall, and had returned to her room to meditate, everyone looked at each other in silence for a few moments before Beast Boy said, "What just happened?"

When Jinx woke up the next morning, she found herself in a surprisingly good mood. Not even her breakfast choices - microwavable pastries, three varieties of sugary cereal, and two cups of nearly expired yogurt - dampened her mood. She was unconsciously humming an upbeat tune she'd heard on the radio a couple of days ago, while grabbing a cereal box and making her a bowl of it. Like Raven, Jinx wasn't really paying attention to eating because she was thinking about yesterday afternoon's unexpected occurance. After breakfast, she began cleaning up her apartment; again, while being consciously unaware of what she was doing. It wasn't until after she'd taken a shower that she realized her morning had almost passed by without her knowing. "Where did most of my morning go?" she asked her reflection as she blow-dried her hair. "I mean, I do recall waking up, but not much else before now." Entering the living room of her apartment, she was surprised at how clean it was. "I know I did this," she said to herself in amazement, "but I don't recall actually doing it." Shrugging, she took three steps towards her bedroom before realizing the reason behind her good mood had to do with where her thoughts had been for most of the morning. "It was Raven," she said slowly. "Thinking about Raven, and how we just . . . talked yesterday is why I'm so . . . so . . . happy. Huh. I don't think I've been this happy since . . . since before I dumped Kid Flash." Though perplexed at why thinking about Raven made her so happy that she'd lose track of her morning, Jinx didn't give it another thought - even though in a few hours she'd be meeting that very same girl at the cafe they'd met at yesterday.

Raven really didn't have much of a collection of 'normal' clothes - she'd found that out yesterday when she'd gone for some tea and found a new friend - so she decided to get something new to wear for later that afternoon. What Raven didn't realize, and probably wouldn't until months later, was that she was acting like a person about to go on their first date. She knew that the Jump City Mall would have a few stores with some (to her, anyway) good selections of clothes, so she dressed in a pair of dark purple pants, a black T-shirt, and a button-up dark blue shirt. She decided to wear the same boots she'd worn yesterday, as the rest of her shoes (she only had two other pairs) were 'mission' shoes, and thus dressed she grabbed several gift cards she'd gotten over the past several months from Cyborg and Starfire and teleported to the mall (she didn't want to let the others know what she was doing, since they'd try to come with her or 'accidentally' run into her there, and she just wanted to avoid having to refuse their well-intended help).

When she teleported back to her room an hour later, Raven had a couple more bags than she'd originally intended to get, but didn't really mind. She justified the extra purchases to herself by saying that she needed a wider variety of 'civilian' clothes so she didn't have to lounge around the Tower all the time in her uniform or some mish-mash of the meager 'stash' of normal clothes she had. And while her new purchases were in her favorite colors (although there was less dark purple and more dark blue and black), she had unknowingly chosen clothes that she thought Jinx would like.

Throughout all of this, her emotions had been quietly waiting and observing. Especially Love, who could already see where this was going. She didn't say anything to the other emotions, though, because she didn't want to jinx anything with Jinx. She managed to stifle a giggle at her unintentional pun, though Happiness looked at her anyway.

_"Something's going on," Timid said hesitantly._

_"Well, duh!" Anger snapped. "Do you happen to know what?"_

_"Oh, leave her alone," Knowledge said. "You're just mad that she said it before you did."_

_"So what?"_

_"If she likes Jinx, then she should tell her so!" Courage said loudly with a 'give-me-hell-and-I'll-give-you-change' grin._

_"She may not know," Love said softly, surprising the others by speaking; she hadn't said a word since Terra had died. Even Anger, who normally would take any opportunity to yell at Love, stayed quiet._

_"She seems to be happy so I'm happy! Yay!" Happy said, jumping up and down._

_"Go jump in a lake!" Anger snapped at her._

_"Jumping in a lake sounds fun! Yay!" replied the ever-joyful emotion._

_"You're an idiot!"_

Raven was unaware of the interactions her emotions were having at the moment, because she was trying to figure out which of her new clothes she should wear for meeting Jinx later. In the end, she decided on wearing the new pair of dark blue cargo-style pants, a black 3/4-length shirt, and a pair of dark blue with black striping deck shoes. Her pants didn't have belt loops so she decided to go ahead and wear the belt she usually wore while 'on duty'. She'd unintentionally let her hair get to her shoulders, and realized that she needed to cut it, but since she was already dressed Raven decided to just pull her back into a short pony-tail for now. Checking the time, she realized that she needed to leave soon if she was going to have time to walk there. It did occur to her to teleport there, but she enjoyed walking there so she would only teleport into the city.

Though Jinx had put some clothes on, they were just her 'lounge-around' clothes; she really hadn't had much to do after cleaning her apartment that morning, which was something that was a little surprising. Laying on the couch, with her head resting on one of its arms, she pursed her lips as she thought about what she wanted to wear when she went to meet Raven.

"I don't want to wear what I wore yesterday," she said to herself out loud. "I mean, that's kinda lame. I don't want her to think that I only own that outfit and my trademark uniform. Something casual would be good, but I still want to look nice." Stretching herself like a cat that was done sunning itself, she got off the couch and headed to her room. "Maybe I'll just put something on and go to the mall to get something new," she mused to herself, unknowingly making the same decision Raven had just made. Smiling at the thought of actually getting some clothes that would be 'everyday-casual-yet-still-a-little-formal', Jinx began assembling a list of what she wanted to get in her head.

By the time Jinx got back to her apartment from the mall, she had only an hour until she needed to be at the cafe. Not wanting to disappoint her new friend by being late, she just grabbed a bag and changed into the outfit that was inside it (which turned out to be a hot pink long-sleeve, black capris, and a dark blue T-shirt which she wore over the long-sleeve). Grabbing her shoes, Jinx tried to put them on at the same time was touching up her cheeks. Taking a deep to calm herself down - she didn't know why she felt so nervous - she put her dark blue and pink tennis shoes on and _then_ touched up her cheeks with light pink blush. _I know Raven probably wouldn't care about the make-up_, she thought, _but I've been doing it for so long it seems odd not to have it._ Thus ready, Jinx left her apartment rather faster than she had intended (though she wasn't aware of that) and made her way to the cafe.

The bell over the door dinged as somebody came in, and caused Raven to look up. Seeing Jinx, she got the other girl's attention and waved her over. "I, um, already got your drink," she said somewhat nervously.

"Taking charge today, eh, Sweets?" Jinx asked with a friendly smirk on her face. Right on cue, Raven blushed at the nickname. Picking up her cup, Jinx let its aroma waft around her and blinked in surprise. It was the same thing she'd had yesterday. "You've got a good memory," she told her friend.

"That's the best latte this place has," Raven said with a small smile. "I tried it once, but I prefer the tea they have." Sipping her tea a little to fight back an unexplainable feeling of nervousness, she said, "I . . . had fun yesterday."

"I did, too," Jinx replied softly, feeling a little nervous herself. Looking at her friend, she added, "I haven't been that relaxed for a while."

"Same here," the dark-haired Titan agreed.

"Are we gonna head to that park after her?" Jinx asked.

"Would you like to?" Raven replied. Jinx shrugged and smiled.

"It would be nice," she said. "You're not bad company, so the location isn't all that important."

The remark actually made both girls look down at their drinks as they took sips; neither was sure what that remark meant, or even if it meant anything beyond the words that made it up. The silence that had sprung up after that comment started to become a little uncomfortable, so Jinx said, "So, were your friends worried about you?"

"Well, I am not sure," Raven admitted. "I wasn't really aware of them when I got back, although I think Cyborg may have said something to me."

"You know, Sweets, you really should let them know you're okay," Jinx commented. "They _are_ your closest friends, right?"

"They are . . . like family to me," she replied, blushing once again at Jinx's nickname for her. "And you are right. I should start talking to them again; more than one-word answers, that is."

"That's more than I ever had," was the softly spoken reply.

"What about your former teammates? Back when you were with the H.I.V.E. Five?"

"Just friends. Being a villain, even one that's part of a team, doesn't exactly encourage close relations."

"Do you miss being a villain?" Raven asked.

"Not really," Jinx admitted. "I mean, sure it was fun flaunting the rules and all, but it was lonely. And more than a little stressful."

"How do you mean?" the dark hero inquired.

"You always had to watch your own back," she was told. "Especially when you were on supposed 'down time'." Jinx sighed. "Not really all that fun on the whole."

"And now?"

"Being a hero has its perks. After all, no one tries to arrest me anymore when I go out in uniform."

Raven laughed a little at that, lightening Jinx's mood. "Hey, Raven, now that we're done with our drinks, want to go walk in that park?" she asked. Swallowing a sudden, unexplainable lump in her throat, Raven replied, "Sure."

For a while after they got there, the two girls didn't say a word. They just walked around the park in companionable silence. Each one was trying to figure out the sudden, currently inexplicable bond that they seemed to share. They didn't hold hands, though they did walk closer together than 'just friends' would have; their shoulders were practically touching.

"Do you like watching sunsets?" Jinx asked suddenly, breaking the easy silence.

"I . . . used to," Raven confessed.

"Terra?" the other girl asked; Raven just nodded.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," the dark-powered Titan said. "It's just something we used to do."

"But I bet each one you saw with her was special."

"Yes," Raven said softly, memories coming to the surface. "Yes, they were."

"I've never had someone who could do that. You know, make every sunset special and unique."

"What about Kid Flash?"

"Him?" Jinx snorted in amusement. "His idea of a romantic evening was sitting on a couch watching a 'relaxing' movie."

"That's not bad."

"Every night? And then leaving shortly after the movie was over?"

"Oh."

They lapsed into silence again, though it wasn't awkward like it should have been. The lights lining the paths of the small park began coming on as their timers indicated. Neither of the two girls had noticed how late it was getting, and Jinx let out a groan.

"What is it?" Raven asked.

"I was hoping to get back home before the sun really set," she admitted. Then she rushed to say, "Not that you're bad company, it's just that-"

"-You did not want to walk back alone?" she finished. The pink-haired hex girl nodded. "I could teleport us there."

"You can?" Jinx asked, her voice a little hopeful at the chance to spend a few more moments with her friend.

"Sure," Raven told her.

"Okay."

A few moments later, the two girls appeared out of a pool of darkness outside the door of Jinx's apartment.

"Um, thanks, Raven," Jinx said.

"It was no trouble, Jinx," she replied. They stood there for a moment in a somewhat awkward silence.

"I'd, um, invite you in and all," the hex girl said, "but the place isn't exactly ready for company." _Stupid!_ she berated herself. _It's cleaner than it was when I moved in!_

"That's . . . that's okay," Raven said, a little nervous at the almost-invitation. "I need to head home, anyway."

Another awkward silence followed. Both of them felt a nervousness in their stomachs, but couldn't explain why. The silence started to become too awkward, so Raven said, "Um, g-goodnight, Jinx." And without warning, she gave the other girl a quick, feathery kiss on the lips. Blushing in shock at her own actions, Raven teleported straight from the hallway outside Jinx's apartment to her room. Jinx, though, was standing outside her apartment in shock, her eyes huge and her jaw slack.

_What just happened?_ her shock-blanked mind asked.

**Author's Note:** Well, there it is. The surprise I promised at the end of the last chapter. The title of this chapter was originally intended as a joke, but as the chapter went on I couldn't think of a more fitting name. Especially what occured in the very last paragraph. You probably saw it coming, though. What, indeed, just happened? And what does it mean for the newly born friendship between these two? Review here, please?


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**ADDITIONAL:** This chapter's title came from the song "Rocketeer" by Far East Movement, and provides the basis for the chapter.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Chapter 4 - Here We Go, Come With Me**

Jinx didn't remember going into her apartment, but that's where she was when her brain began working again. She was standing in her living room, staring at the door. _Raven . . . kissed me_, she said, her thoughts still jumbled. _She kissed me . . . on the lips._ A blush crept up her face, but it was one that was more surprise and happiness than embarrassed. Her smile grew bigger, then allowed a giggle to get by. Jinx couldn't stop herself; she began giggling. It soon escalated into laughter that had her struggling to reach the couch. It took her a while to regain control of herself, though the laughter still threatened to escape.

"I thought I was an expert thief," she said to herself out loud, mirth filling her voice. "But that . . . _minx_ stole a kiss from _me_!" Trying hard to control herself, she got off the couch and went to her bedroom to sleep.

Raven had teleported straight to her room; she didn't want to have to explain the faint red blush that currently was her face. And she wanted to get herself under control. Her heart was thudding like a jackhammer on a busy day, and her emotions were running riot around her skull. She had _just_ enough control over them to keep her powers dampened; she didn't want to have to explain any broken items to the others right now. _I kissed her_, she thought in shock. _I kissed her on the lips. Why did I do that?_ Then a different thought occured to her: _Why did I like it?_ She could feel her control - what little of it she currently had - slipping away, so she decided to meditate in an effort to regain control.

"Have you guys noticed anything . . . _different_ about Raven?" Robin asked three days later.

"Define 'different'," Cyborg replied around a mouthful of pizza.

"She's talking to us," he said bluntly.

"Oh, that," his friend replied. Swallowing his pizza, he belched and looked at the leader of the Teen Titans. "Look, man, I don't think it's a big deal. Sure, it was a little unsettling at first, considering that she hasn't really talked to us since Terra died. But I think it's a good thing."

"Maybe she's finally moving on?" Beast Boy said questioningly before taking a bite of his tofu-vegetarian pizza.

"I think it is wonderful that friend Raven is happy again," Starfire said, watching the boys eat. Robin sighed, knowing that they all had a point.

"I'm not saying it's a problem," he said. "It's just . . . "

"Off-putting?" Cyborg suggested helpfully.

"Definitely that," the Boy Wonder agreed. "A little suspicious, too."

"In what way?" asked the green-skinned shape-shifter.

"After being so, well, depressed for so long, what could have happened to cause this welcome change?"

Jinx heard her phone ringing and yelled out, "Just a minute!" as she finished wrapping a towel around herself. Rushing out of her bathroom, she managed to answer the phone before her answering machine kicked in. "Hello?" she asked.

_"Jinx?"_ came a familiar voice that brought a smile to the pink-haired Titan's face.

"Hey, Sweets!" she replied happily. She didn't have to see her face to know that Raven was blushing and it made her grin even bigger.

_"Did I . . . interrupt something?"_ came the somewhat hesitant reply.

"Just a shower," Jinx said. The silence on the other end nearly caused the pale girl to giggle; she could just imagine Raven blushing at that, too.

_"Sorry."_

"Don't be. So, what's up?"

_"Can we . . . I, um . . . "_

"What is it?" Jinx asked; something about Raven's voice, about the way she was talking, had her concerned.

_"I . . . don't know how to say it."_

"Just say it."

_"Okay."_ Jinx could hear her draw a breath. _"Will you go out with me? You know, officially?"_

Jinx couldn't speak for a minute; she'd thought Raven was going to say something like "We shouldn't see each other so much" or "Let's take this slower". She hadn't anticipated this.

_"Jinx? Are you there?"_

"Huh? Wha?" the other girl said, still stunned by the question. "I-I mean, yes, I'm here."

_"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to-"_

"No, no, that's not it," she rushed to reassure her friend. "You just caught me by surprise, that's all. Kinda like that kiss,"she added slyly. This time, it seemed like she could practically _hear_ Raven blushing. "And, yes, I'd love to be your girlfriend. But, Sweets, are you sure?" The nickname was used in a concerned manner this time, rather than a teasing one.

_"Yes, I am,"_ Raven replied. _"I miss Terra a lot, but I don't think she'd want me spending the rest of my life mourning her."_

"I . . . didn't know her," Jinx began, "but I want to believe that she'd want you to be happy. And I'm not saying that just because I really like you, and I want to be with you, but because . . . if it was me, I'd want that for you." Raven was silent for a while, but Jinx wasn't worried; she knew that what she'd just confessed would be a little shocking. _Okay, more than a little_, she admitted to herself.

_"You really meant that?"_ Raven asked softly. _"You . . . like me _that_ much?"_

"I'd like to use another word," Jinx said, just as softly, "but I'm not sure if either of us is ready for that just now."

_"Yeah."_

"So, same time and place?"

_"Not tonight; I . . . kind of have something . . . special in mind,"_ Raven admitted. Jinx felt a warmth blossom inside of her, and her smile changed into something . . . more.

"Okay. Anything you want me to wear?"

_"Something . . . nice?"_

"I'll knock your socks off, Sweets," Jinx said, her voice _just_ different enough from normal to get Raven's attention. And the feeling that that tone gave Raven made her smile in a way that she hadn't for a long time.

_"I look forward to it. I'll get you at . . . seven?"_

"I'll be waiting, Sweets."

At seven, Jinx heard a knock on her door and knew that Raven had teleported there. She felt a little nervous, in spite of herself; after all, this was their first _official_ date. Opening the door, she was floored by Raven's appearance. The dark-haired girl was dressed in women's dress slacks that were dark blue with black pin-striping, and a dark purple turtleneck that complemented her eyes. She was also wearing that same coat she'd been wearing when they first talked at the cafe that had become their 'special place'.

Raven, meanwhile, was shocked speechless upon seeing Jinx. She was wearing black shoes that were similar to her 'mission' shoes but obviously weren't, dark purple leggings underneath a black knee-length skirt that was slit a couple of inches on the right side, and a dark purple blouse whose sleeves had ruffled ends. The last stunning surprise was her hair; rather than putting it in her trademark style, Jinx had pulled it back into a low ponytail.

"I think one of your socks landed in my apartment, Sweets," Jinx said, grinning at her new girlfriend's expression. Shaking herself out of her daze, Raven blushed and smiled.

"You look . . . amazing," she said.

"Not as amazing as you," came the surprisingly shy reply.

"More," Raven said. "Are you ready?"

"Absolutely," Jinx replied. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

Raven teleported them to the restuarant. When Jinx saw where they were at, her jaw dropped open. "How did you . . . ?" she tried to ask, unable to finish the question. Raven smiled, pleased at her reaction. And for once, her emotions were quiet; they obviously didn't want to distract her from this night. "It was Terra," she said softly. When the other girl looked at her, she explained, "I found an open-date reservation for two for this place in her room after I got better." Looking down, she added, "I called earlier to see if it was still valid and it was. So, I thought that, you know, this would be a good place for our first date."

"It's wonderful, Raven," Jinx said feeling happier than she'd ever felt before. When they stepped into the exclusive restuarant (reservations had to be booked _months_ in advance), they were immediately led to a table that had a wonderful view of Jump City Bay. Jinx let Raven order for them both, trusting the other girl completely. After their waiter had left, the two girls looked at each other, found themselves looking into the other's eyes, and blushed as they looked away.

"I've . . . never been in a place this nice," Jinx admitted.

"I have only been here once before," Raven confessed. "It was after one of Johnny Rancid's rampages." Just then, their water returned with their drinks and a couple of appetizers. "It's a special blend of herbal tea," she told her new girlfriend. "This is the only place that gets it right." Jinx took a sip of the tea and was surprised at how wonderful it tasted. "This is great," she said.

"Just wait until our meal arrives," Raven told her, smiling.

After leaving the restuarant, the couple walked to 'their' park and just strolled around in silence, enjoying each other's company. As promised, the meal had been beyond exceptional - for _both_ girls. The sun had already set, but neither minded. Just as they didn't mind the clouds.

"Tonight's been the most wonderful night of my life so far," Jinx said, unable to believe that she could be this happy.

"I feel the same way," Raven agreed, squeezing her hand. She stopped, causing Jinx to stop as well.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. The dark-haired Titan shook her head.

"Nothing's wrong," she replied. "But . . . I want to show you something."

"Okay," Jinx agreed.

"Do you trust me?"

"Absolutely."

"Then . . . would you take my hand, and close your eyes?" Raven asked. Jinx nodded, and did so. She felt the familiar sensation of Raven teleporting them, then heard her say, "Okay. Open your eyes." When Jinx did, she gasped. They were standing on a black disc (a visible manifestation of Raven's levitation), but that wasn't what caused her reaction. _That_ was due to the fact that below their feet were the tops of clouds - and above their heads were the stars. The stars seemed unnaturally bright, and the moon closer than Jinx had ever seen it - as though she could just reach up and grab it. She turned to Raven, but was unable to say anything. She didn't need to, though; Raven could see in her eyes everything she wanted to say. The two girls hugged each other closely, neither wanting this moment to end. Pulling back a little, they gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment. Finally, Raven said, "Thank you."

"For what?" Jinx asked softly.

"For coming into the cafe that day," Raven told her.

"Thank you," Jinx said, "for everything since then."

Then the two shared their first, real kiss. It was a long, slow, soft kiss. It said a lot of things, and promised more.

**Author's Note:** If anyone's heard "Rocketeer" by Far East Movement, you may have noticed some similiarities to the lyrics in this chapter. That wasn't coincidental; as I said above, this chapter was inspired by that song. I took my time with this chapter because I wanted to do it - and Raven and Jinx - justice. And I bet y'all are _still_ wondering what Raven did to Jinx that caused what happened in the prologue to occur. Especially after this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for _this_ chapter.

Oh, and if you ignored the disclaimer for this chapter, you might want to go back and read that last sentence.

**Author's Note:** I have to say I'm surprised. Happy, but surprised. When I started writing fanfic, I never expected to get noticed right away. And now I'm looking at the fifth chapter of a story (sixth, if you include the amazingly pivotal prologue) with 9 reviews total for it. I can't say how long this story will be - don't wanna spoil anything for y'all - but I can say that I will do it justice for those of you who have read and reviewed. Even for those of you who just read it. So thanks, everyone, and enjoy this chapter.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Chapter 5 - And Now You Know**

Raven was sitting in the main room of the Tower reading a book when she sensed Cyborg sitting down next to her. It had been two days since she and Jinx had had their first 'real' date, and the euphoric feelings that had arisen that night had yet to leave. Talking with her emotions had given a possible reason for that: this is what she not only wanted but needed. Though Raven had seen Love many times during her trips into her own mind, the emotion had always seemed forlorn, faded. Now, Love was the brightest of all of her emotions; they all were doing a lot better since she had started hanging out with Jinx - although now they were no longer hanging out but dating.

"Raven," Cyborg said, catching her attention.

"Yes?" she asked, marking her place and closing her book. Judging by the cybernetic Titan's expression, she guessed she sounded happy and cheerful; his human eye was a little wide and his jaw somewhat 'dropped'.

"Are you okay?" he asked after a moment.

"I've never been better," she answered, smiling. Then she got a puzzled expression on her face, as Cyborg's expression became even more shocked. "What?"

"You're . . . different," he said.

"I am?" she asked, a little confused.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Everyone's gotten used to how you were after . . . well, you know."

His hesitation there told Raven that he was referring to Terra's death. Her empathy gave her the feeling that he hadn't directly said it because he was happy that she was happy, and didn't want to ruin it. So she decided to tell him, first; after all, he _had_ helped her get out of her suicidal-heading depression with that journal.

"I am sorry about all of that," she began. "I didn't mean to worry any of you."

"Hey, it's cool," he told her. "We all understood."

"But you guys didn't deserve to have me barely acknowledge you," she replied. "It wasn't fair to any of you, especially since you are my closest friends." She sighed. "It's been about two weeks now, since it all changed."

"What do you mean, Rae?" he asked her.

"Well, while you were all gone that day, I decided to go to 'my' cafe," she confessed.

"The one that you used to take Terra to?"

"The very one. I thought maybe it would be a start to, well, getting better. Pulling myself more together, you know?"

"And I'm guessing it was?"

"In more ways than one, Cyborg," she said softly. "In more ways than one."

"So?" he prompted.

"I . . . met Jinx in there," she confessed.

"You met her in there?" he asked, confused.

"Well, actually, she came in behind me," she corrected. "She must have seen me walk in, and decided to follow me."

"Kid Flash's girlfriend Jinx?" he said, still surprised.

"Ex," she told him. "They broke up a few months after that last battle with the Brotherhood of Evil. Anyway, she sat down with me, and we started talking."

It Raven almost half an hour to explain everything that had happened over the last two weeks, during which he didn't make any more interruptions and actually appeared to listen to what she was saying and think about it.

"And that's all of it," Raven finished quietly.

"Jinx, huh?" Cyborg said speculatively. Raven just nodded. Then her friend smiled.

"Well, I'm happy for you Raven," he said. "If anyone deserves to be happy, it's you."

"You don't mind that it's Jinx?" she asked.

"Why would I mind? It's your personal life, and who you date is your business," he told her. "From what you told me, Jinx didn't have too good of a relationship with Kid Flash." He looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "Do you like her?"

"More than I would have thought," Raven admitted.

"And does she like you?"

"She seems to like me as much as I like her."

"No problems, then," he said. "You should tell the others, though."

"I-I will," she agreed. "I just . . . wanted to tell you first. You really helped me out with that journal."

"Hey, it was no problem," he said. "I figured that if you wouldn't talk to us, you might talk to that book."

"I don't know if the others will be as understanding as you have been, though."

"So you told only Cyborg?" Jinx asked later that day, as the two sat sipping tea in 'their' cafe. Raven nodded.

"He's . . . kind of like a brother to me," she replied.

"So long as that's _all_ he is," her girlfriend said, grinning to show she was playing.

"Jealous?" Raven retorted, smiling as well.

"Of a guy? Hardly, Sweets," she said casually, causing the other girl to blush at the nickname. "You know, that never gets old."

"What doesn't get old?"

"Making you blush."

"I don't blush."

"Yes, you do."

"I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"I assure you, I don't."

"You go on believing that, Sweets." A pause. "See? You just blushed!"

"No, it's just warm in here," Raven said.

"Warm? It isn't _that_ warm in here," Jinx said, still smirking.

"You are not going to let it go, are you?" Raven asked with false exasperation.

"Absolutely."

"Really."

"Of course, Sweets." Once again, Raven blushed. This time, Jinx couldn't stop herself and chuckled. "You're cute when you blush, you know that?" She didn't think it was possible, but she watched Raven turn a deeper shade of pink (having gray skin makes it hard to blush red). Getting serious, she asked, "_Are_ you going to tell Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy?"

"Yes," Raven said slowly. "I'm just . . . well, I'm not sure how they'll react. I mean, I know that Star will be happy for me; she always wants her friends to be happy."

"Sounds like she'd be a little hard to be around a lot," Jinx commented.

"She does tend to go overboard a lot," she admitted, "but she means well."

"Wish I had a friend like her," the hex girl said.

"She could be your friend," the goth girl replied. "She'd probably insist upon it, knowing her."

"What about the Boy Wonder and Beast Boy?"

"Well, knowing Robin, he'd probably be grudgingly approving, considering it's you," Raven admitted.

"Yeah, he doesn't seem to like me much, does he?"

"Well, you _were_ a villain for a while."

"True. But I've reformed. And now I have a reason to stay reformed."

"You mean me?"

"No, I mean the ditzy blonde near the door. Duh!"

Raven blushed and smiled, feeling very happy. "As for Beast Boy, I think he'll have a similar reaction to Starfire's, but less . . . expressive."

"So he's not going to rush up and try to crush my ribs in a well-intentioned hug?"

"Starfire hasn't broken anyone's ribs."

"So far."

"She won't start."

"You hope."

"Jinx, come on."

"Now or later?"

"For what?"

"You asked me to come on to you."

"I did not."

"You did."

"No, I did not."

"You said 'Jinx, come on'."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"So you . . . don't want me to come on to you?" Jinx asked, sounding hurt (though she was playing).

"I didn't say that," Raven said. Then she grimaced. "You're mean, you know that?"

"You knew that already," Jinx replied, laughing. "That was fun. But, seriously, when are you going to tell the others?"

"I . . . don't know," she admitted. "But I want you to be there with me."

"Really?" the pink-haired girl asked. Raven nodded. "Well, then, of course I'll be there."

"So . . . why is Jinx here again?" asked Robin, looking at the sorceress a little suspiciously.

"Because I asked her to be here," Raven replied a little defensively. Robin's attitude towards her girlfriend was like a bomb squad's treatment of a bomb with a short countdown. Or Beast Boy's behavior around meat.

"Hey, it's cool, Sweets," Jinx told her. "I can understand his not trusting me. I haven't been a hero that long."

"I'm glad you understand, Jinx," Robin said. "So what did you-" He stopped talking, his mind just registering Jinx's comment. In fact, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire registered her words at the same time as well, and all eyes turned to see a smirking Jinx and a blushing Raven.

"Did you just call Raven 'Sweets'?" asked Beast Boy. Jinx's smirk got bigger.

"Absolutely," she confirmed.

"Raven?" Robin asked, looking at her. "What's going on?"

Raven sighed, and looked her friends in the eye. "I am sure you guys have noticed how I was acting after Terra's death," she began. When they all nodded, she went on. "And I did get a little better after a while, and managed to pull myself together to help out with the Brotherhood of Evil and that situation in Tokyo. But I still didn't feel right. I knew that I would never be like I was before Terra, and I didn't know if I should even try to 'cheer up', as it were. But a couple of weeks ago, I decided to go and visit that cafe Terra and I used to go to a lot."

"And how does Jinx fit into all of this?" Robin asked, his voice sterner than usual.

"I decided to go out on the town to try and cheer myself up after reflecting on what a non-romantic Kid Flash was," Jinx interjected, "and saw Raven go into some cafe. So I decided to follow her in." Jinx looked down at her hands, feeling a little shy about this. "I . . . it looked like she was really down about something, so I thought I'd go and . . . well, talk to her. See if I could at least give her some company." Robin looked a little nonplussed about that, so he just nodded.

"We . . . got to talking," Raven picked up, "which kind of surprised me. And then Jinx basically said she wanted to be my friend. And . . . she got me to smile. For the first time in a long time, I smiled."

"I am so happy for you, friend Raven!" Starfire squealed, twirling into the air. "It is so wondrous that you are no longer being sad!" Robin nodded his agreement and said, "Although I'm sure there's more to this story, I _am_ glad that you're feeling better."

"Thanks," Raven said, "but we're more than friends." _That_ announcement met with a very shocked silence. "Jinx is . . . well, she's my girlfriend. Since a couple of days ago."

Both Raven and Jinx were somewhat dreading this part of the conversation; though Cyborg knew, and had easily accepted the news, neither of them was certain how the other three would react. However, no one could have anticipated _Robin's_ reaction.

"You two are a couple now? Well, that's pretty cool," he said, smiling. Everyone's jaws dropped.

"You're cool with this?" Beast Boy asked, surprised.

"Why not?" the Boy Wonder replied. "Although I am surprised that it's Jinx, I _am_ happy that Raven's able to move past her grief and start living again." He walked over to Jinx and held out his hand. The pink-haired girl tentatively took it, and received a handshake in return. "Welcome to the team, Jinx." Overcoming his own shock, Beast Boy also walked over and shook Jinx's hand. Starfire gave Jinx a hug that only bruised her ribs.

"Are you going to move in to the Tower?" Cyborg asked. Both of the girls were taken aback by this.

"Say what?" Jinx asked.

"That's not a bad idea, Cyborg," Robin agreed. He looked at the hex girl. "What do you say?"

"You . . . you guys . . . _want_ me to stay here?" she asked, kind of in shock from this decidedly unexpected generosity.

"Of course we do!" Starfire said, smiling happily. "You make friend Raven happy, and it would be easier for you to be here with her than for you two to be apart, right?"

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess," Jinx said slowly. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she let it out and looked up at everyone. Her face broke out into a smile as she said, "That sounds great!"

It only took a couple of hours to set up a room for Jinx and move her stuff from her apartment into it, even though everyone suspected she would be spending a lot of time in Raven's room. The 'goth' Titan was actually happy that her friends were so accepting of her girlfriend, and felt as though she had reached a turning point in her life. She had been in a very lonely place after Terra's death, and thanks to her friends - and her girlfriend, Jinx - she felt as though she was coming back to where she had been, emotionally, when Terra was alive. For the first time in a long time, she felt genuinely happy.

Someone else was aware of her situation, as well. Someone who wanted to punish her for what she had done. Someone who wanted to crush her happiness, destroy her sense of peace, and corrupt her joy. _"So the impudent whelp has found a new love,"_ the giant, shadow-ensconsed figure murmured to itself in a deep, rumbling voice. Then it gave a low, menacing chuckle. _"This development, though unexpected, shall make things easier for me. After all, witnessing her heart being ripped apart in a figurative sense was rather enjoyable the first time. The second time will be . . . _delicious_!"_

**Author's Note:** And that's the end of the chapter. Raven's 'come clean' to her friends, who seem to be accepting Jinx rather easily. Things seem to be going well for the new couple. Jinx may not be an official member of the team, but her acceptance process should be easier considering how happy she's making Raven. There may not be a lot of action so far, battle or otherwise, but things should pick up in the next chapter. Especially since there is someone who wants to hurt Raven and sees her relationship with Jinx as the perfect way to do so. I'll let you guys have fun guessing who it is.

**In the Next Chapter:** Jinx has her first battle alongside her girlfriend and her new team. Raven takes her on their second 'official' date, which could end in more than a kiss. Also, Raven opens up to Jinx about her relationship with Terra, and Jinx tells her all about why she broke up with Kid Flash. So stay 'tuned'!

(Just thought I'd give y'all a teaser of what's coming next.)


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for _this_ chapter.

Oh, and if you ignored the disclaimer for this chapter, you might want to go back and read that last sentence. (I know, I said that about the last chapter, but this time it's accurate.)

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Chapter 6 - Drawing Closer Together**

_She was running. From what or who, she didn't know. All she knew was that she had to get away from it. She could only sense the one, but that didn't mean there weren't others around. She hadn't seen any signs of there being others, but it could have been a trick. Ducking around a wall, she paused for a second to try to catch her breath. Her heart felt like it would burst out of her chest at any moment, and her legs felt weak from fatigue. But she knew she couldn't stop for long; the thing behind her wouldn't allow her a moment's respite. Pushing herself off from the wall, she dashed down the alley she was suddenly in, leaping over piles of debris and dashing around massive dumpsters. Bursting out of the alley, she shot across the strangely empty street beyond and into another alley. Leaping up to a fire escape, she quickly ran up it to the building's roof. She ran behind a massive air conditioning unit, stopped to listen for whatever was chasing her, then collapsed to her knees when she heard nothing. She didn't think she'd lost it for long, but hopefully long enough. Her communicator was gone (she didn't know how it had happened), so she was alone. All alone. No bystanders to protect, no police to provide a distraction, no friends to help. It was that last part that threatened to drag her into a pit of despair from which escape would be difficult._

_**"Where are you?"**__ came a sinister, sing-song taunt. She froze; it was close. Too close. If she moved now, it would catch her for sure. Her only hope right now was to remain still and hope it searched somewhere else soon._

_**"I know you're here,"**__ it sang. __**"Come out, come out wherever you are."**_

_That voice. It sounded familiar. Too familiar. But she couldn't place it. Where had she heard it before?_

_**"Why are you hiding? Aren't you a hero? Doesn't the monster hide from the hero?"**__ it kept on. __**"If you're hiding, does that make you the monster? Or just a whimpering child who's afraid of the dark?"**_

_Suddenly, inexplicable, all sound stopped. She held her breath, listening. Was it gone? As if in answer, a hand reached down from above her and _yanked_ her up and around. She flew through the air and hit the side of another massive a/c unit, causing her breath to explode out of her and sending a heavy jolt of pain through her back and side. Hitting the rooftop, she curled up into a ball and began coughing, trying to catch her breath. She knew she had to get up, but she could barely move. A pair of boots blocked part of her vision; she couldn't tell what color they were, as everything was shadowed out and she couldn't focus._

_**"Found you,"**__ came the sing-song taunt. __**"Poor little girl. So scared and alone. So weak and helpless."**__ Then came the low, menacing chuckle. __**"But then, that's how you always are. How you will always be. Abandoned by your friends, by the people who claimed to care about you."**_

_She knew that was a lie; her friends would never abandon her._

_**"Oh, yes, they would,"**__ the thing taunted, as though it could hear her thoughts. __**"After what you did, why wouldn't they?"**_

_What she did? She didn't do anything._

_**"You don't remember?"**__ The thing laughed as though it was the most hilarious joke ever told. __**"Oh, how delicious the irony of this is."**__ It laughed again, seeming to enjoy her confusion and agony._

_What did it mean? What was she supposed to remember? What had she forgotten?_

_**"Didn't you wonder why this city was deserted? Why there wasn't anyone around? Why everything seemed to be falling apart?"**_

_In fact, she had wondered about that. But she'd been too busy running from the monster chasing her that she couldn't give it much thought._

_**"I'm a monster, am I? What is that phrase? 'A case of the pot calling the kettle black'? Oh, well, it was something like that."**_

_She was a monster? But how? Why? She was a hero, she saved people._

_**"You keep telling yourself that."**__ Suddenly, a pair of hands reached down and yanked her up. She couldn't see its face, and although she struggled, her struggles were weak and ineffectual. The thing carried her over to the edge of the roof and held her over the ground seven stories below._

_What did it want?_

_**"What do I want? That's simple. I want you punished for your crimes."**_

_Crimes? What crimes?_

_**"You destroyed this city."**_

_NO!_

_**"Oh, yes. You destroyed it, and you enjoyed doing so."**_

_Impossible!_

_**"Is it? Look at who you were, what you did before. It isn't impossible; it's inevitable."**_

With a start and a near scream, Raven jolted awake so fast she overbalanced and landed on her stomach on her bad. As she slowly became aware of everything around her, the first thing that she noticed was that she was in her room, not hanging off the rooftop of a derelict building in a deserted city. The second thing she noticed was that her sheets were soaked through with cold sweat. Picking herself up, Raven stayed on her hands and knees for a moment, breathing heavily, sweat dripping off of her and down onto her already soaked sheets. _What was that?_ she asked herself. She didn't know if it was a dream or a vision; it was too surreal to be a vision, yet too vivid to be a dream - a nightmare, rather. And she didn't know if it was of her, or of someone else. Vision or dream, she had experienced it as though it was her own perspective, but that didn't mean much. Regaining control of herself, she managed to glance at the clock and saw the time. _No one else will be up_, she thought. _I won't be able to get back to sleep right now, though._ Getting off of her bed, Raven walked over to her closet to get some fresh clothes and a towel.

After showering and changing, Raven now sat on the edge of the Tower's roof, holding a cup of herbal tea and staring out over the ocean. She wasn't really drinking the tea, just holding it; using its warmth to try to ward off the chill that had come over her after waking from the dream/vision.

"Raven?" asked a sleepy voice. Turning her head, Raven saw Jinx standing there in a black camisole and dark purple sleep-shorts. Without even thinking, Raven stood and walked over to her girlfriend, taking off her cloak as she did so. Wrapping it around Jinx, she drew the girl into an embrace.

"Jinx, what are doing awake?" she asked.

"I . . . . . . I heard the sounds of things . . . . . . breaking coming from your . . . . . . room, and that woke me up," the pink-haired girl replied, yawning.

"I'm sorry," Raven said, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's . . . okay," Jinx told her, yawning once. "Are you okay?"

"Just . . . a bad dream," she told her.

"Must have been really bad, if it made you lose control of your powers like that," the other girl said. That response would have sounded like an interrogation coming from Robin, but there was nothing but concern in the hex girl's voice.

"It was," Raven admitted. "It was."

"Want to talk about it? You don't have to right now if you don't want to, but you can tell me later, okay?"

Raven nodded and said, "Okay." Taking a deep breath, she let it out. "I don't know if it was about me or not, but I saw it all as if it were me."

"What happened, Sweets?" Jinx asked, nuzzling into Raven's embrace.

"I was running," the goth girl replied, her voice and gaze going distant in remembrance. "I was running from something. Or maybe someone. I don't know who or what they were, only that I had to get away. The city I was running through was completely empty; no people, no animals, no _anything_. I . . . I thought I'd gotten away from whatever it was, but it found me anyway. It said . . . it said that I was responsible for the way the city was, that it was my fault there was nothing and no one there."

"That's . . . that's terrible, Rae," Jinx replied softly, turning slightly and wrapping her arms around her girlfriend. "But it was only a dream, wasn't it?"

"I don't know," Raven admitted. "It was too real to be real, but too easily remembered to be just a dream."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. I'm still tired, but I . . . I don't know if I can go back to sleep."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"There . . . there is one thing, I hope," Raven said, feeling really embarrassed.

"All you have to do is ask, Sweets," Jinx reassured her.

"C-could you . . . lay with me? You know, just to hold me? I mean, um . . . "

Jinx giggled at her girlfriend's action. "I will," she said. Pulling back from her a little, Jinx looked Raven in the eye. "You don't need to pretend with me, Raven," she told her. "Everyone needs help now and then. If me holding you while you fall back asleep is what you need to feel safe, to go back to sleep, then I will be more than willing to do that."

"Thank you, Jinx," Raven said, feeling a surge of happiness and . . . love (?) for her girlfriend. When they had gotten back to Raven's room, Jinx helped her change her sheets. After Raven was dressed in a dark blue tank top and black shorts, she crawled into her bed and snuggled up to Jinx, who wrapped her arms around the other girl. Raven was a little surprised to find that she was, indeed, feeling safe and . . . protected in Jinx's arms. As she drifted off to a sleep that would only be interrupted by the late morning sun, she murmured softly, "I love you, Jinx."

Jinx heard her, though the words were softer than a whisper, and was shocked by them. She and Raven had only been 'official' for a couple of weeks now (which meant they'd been 'going out' for about a month), and they had grown closer together during that time. But until now Jinx hadn't realized just _how_ close they had gotten; she hadn't felt this close to anyone since her days with her H.I.V.E. Five, and even that paled in comparison to the closeness she shared with Raven. Gently brushing some her from her girlfriend's face, she gazed into Raven's closed eyes and said, after planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, "I love you, too, Raven."

When Raven woke up, she realized she wasn't alone in her bed. She was momentarily confused until her sleep-infused mind registered that the person in her bed was Jinx. Then everything else came back to her: the nightmare/vision, her inability to get back to sleep, Jinx's offer . . . and the feeling of being safe. What also came back to her, though, was the last four words she'd said before sleep had reclaimed her: "I love you, Jinx." _Did I really say that?_ Raven asked herself. She knew, though, that the thought was rhetorical; she _did_ say that. And what was more, she knew she meant it. Not wanting to disturb her sleeping girlfriend, she tried to ease out of her bed as carefully as possible. She'd barely managed to sit up, though, when she heard Jinx murmur sleepily, "Where ya goin', Sweets?"

"To get dressed," Raven replied, blushing at the nickname yet again. She still didn't understand why she reacted like that everytime Jinx said it. Blinking her eyes open and yawning, the hex girl sat up as well and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Looking at Raven, she smiled and asked, "How did you sleep?"

"A lot better than . . . before," the goth girl replied, returning the smile.

"I'm glad," Jinx replied, giving Raven a short but sincere hug. "I slept pretty well, myself."

"Thank you," the gray-skinned Titan said softly.

"Like I said last night, or early this morning, I'm more than willing to help you out," the pale Titan replied.

"Not really what I meant. I meant . . . for keeping the nightmare away."

Jinx didn't really have a response to that, so she just hugged her girlfriend again. "Anytime," she whispered into her ear.

When the two girls entered the main room of the Tower, they found Cyborg and Beast Boy absorbed in one of the numerous video games they liked to play. Starfire was hovering behind them, shouting encouragement first to one, and then to the other. Robin was seated at the dining table, apparently looking at something on his multi-function personal digital assistant. He looked up, though, when they entered.

"Morning," he said.

"Hey, Robin," Raven replied.

"Right back at you," Jinx responded.

"You two okay? It's almost noon," Robin asked, concerned but trying to hide behind his 'leader face'.

"Yeah, just overslept," Jinx told him, not sure if Raven felt up to discussing her nightmare with the others. "Never really had a bed that comfortable before." Though intended as an innocent remark, it still caused Raven to blush and look away. Robin was confused by Raven's reaction, but decided to just let it go.

"You two have any plans for today?" he asked.

"We just woke up," Raven reminded him. "Haven't really had time to make any plans."

"Right, sorry."

Just then, Starfire noticed they were there and flew over to give them both quick hugs that only left them breathless this time.

"Good morning, friend Raven and friend Jinx!" she said cheerfully. "Would you like to join me in the shouting of encouragement to friend Cyborg and friend Beast Boy?"

"Um, maybe later, Starfire," Jinx replied.

"Or perhaps we could go to the mall of shopping!" she went on gleefully.

"That sounds like a good idea," Robin said. Both of the 'dark' Titan girls shot him surprised, and somewhat dangerous, looks. "You know, have a girl's day out?"

Before either of them could respond to that, the alarms started going off. The massive screen monitor that was displaying a video game now changed to display a simplified overhead schematic of Jump City. It automatically zoomed in on the trouble spot, which the Tower's computer had marked with a pulsating red dot. Robin moved quickly over to Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"What's the situation?" he asked.

"Looks like a break-in at the local National Guard Armory," Cyborg replied, 'reading' the alert details that the Tower's computer had transmitted to him. "Not sure who it is yet, but it isn't hard to guess who would have the muscle and skill to get in there."

"It could be Mammoth and Gizmo," Jinx offered. Everyone looked at her, causing her to look sheepishly at her shoes. "Well, Mammoth's strong and pretty quick when he wants to be, and Gizmo could certainly use the equipment in the armory for anything he wants to invent."

Robin thought about that, then nodded. "That's a good assessment, Jinx," he said, bringing a smile to his new teammate's face. "Titans, let's go!"

Jinx had been correct in her guess; when the six Teen Titans arrived at the National Guard Armory, Mammoth was walking out of a hole in a building's wall carrying a couple of large crates. Gizmo was right behind him, urging the super tall villain to hurry. Of course, they both stopped when they saw the Teen Titans outside the armory's 'secure' fencing. But it was the site of Jinx with them that really gave them pause. Even though both Mammoth and Gizmo knew she'd betrayed them and turned good, it was still a shock to see her arrayed against them.

"Jinx!" Gizmo snarled.

"I see two aren't popsicles anymore," she replied, smirking. "Pity. It _was_ an improvement upon your personal hygiene issues."

"Hey!" the short genius said.

"Why don't you two just put back whatever you too," Robin said, "before things get difficult."

"Why don't you make me?" Gizmo snapped at him, readying several weapons. "Mammoth, put those things down - carefully! - and let's teach these idiots to mind their own business!"

The two groups charged each other, although Gizmo and Mammoth were outnumbered three-to-one. Gizmo hit Starfire with a laser that knocked her to the ground while Mammoth hit Cyborg with a powerful backhand that knocked him back several yards. Beast Boy turned into a gorilla and attempted to give Mammoth the same treatment, only to end up in a shoving match with the massive villain. Robin was dodging Gizmo's laser blasts while trying to hit the small tech-minded supervillain with his red-colored, bird-like 'batarangs'. Raven summoned up a force of energy and slammed it into Mammoth as Beast Boy managed to pick him up and throw him, knocking him head first into the side of a massive tank. Jinx dashed in and snapped her fingers at Gizmo, her hex burst causing one of this robotic spider-like legs to plung into a hole in the concrete ground. That distracted the evil genius long enough for Robin to take out a laser cannon with a 'birdarang'.

"Hey!" Gizmo shouted. "Damnit! I spent a lot of time on that!" Popping out another laser cannon, he attempted to hit Jinx with rapid bursts of laser energy. But the acrobatic witch-girl simply dodged, flipped, cartwheeled, or spun out of the way - before flipping into a portal of black energy. Gizmo barely had time to say "What the hell?" before Jinx's feet slammed into the techpack on his back. Sparks flew from the device as he slammed into the ground. Jinx had used him as a springboard to reverse her momentum and land on her feet behind the now-standing Mammoth.

"Peek-a-boo!" she shouted, causing him to whirl around with a fist leading the way. But Jinx wasn't there anymore; instead, Mammoth got a face-full of sonic energy as Cyborg's sonic cannon discharged. After that, it was all over.

After the police had came to take the two villains away, the six super heroes went back to the Tower. Everyone was congratulating Jinx her first mission with the team. For her part, Jinx was a little embarrassed at all of the praise, not really seeing it as anything special; she was supposed to be a hero, after all. But Raven saying that it was clever how she tripped Gizmo and manuevered Mammoth into Cyborg's range.

"Speaking of that," Robin said, "you two make a pretty good team. Teleporting Jinx from in front of Gizmo to above and behind him was awesome."

Raven blushed at his words; it just seemd like a natural thing to do.

"Awesome? It was like some killer move from a video game!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"You got that right, BB!" Cyborg agreed. "Kind of mystical ninja-like!"

Now both Raven _and_ Jinx were blushing.

"You know, I think you two should use those clothes you've got on as new uniforms," Robin commented. Raven and Jinx looked at each other. The clothes they'd put on after waking up were the same clothes they'd worn on the first day they'd started hanging out. After thinking about it, both of them nodded. "They look better than our 'old' uniforms," Jinx agreed. While Raven agreed with her girlfriend and Robin, she still wasn't sure about the change. "Think about it," Jinx told her. "We're getting older. Shouldn't our super hero look change to fit that?"

"That does make sense," Raven replied, smiling. "Alright. But the others should get new uniforms as well."

"About that," Robin said. "Remember when we fought that time-traveling villain?"

"You mean when Star told us about that future that had happened because she disappeared?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah," the Boy Wonder confirmed. "Well, I've been thinking about changing to that 'Nightwing' look."

"I need a new name, too," Beast Boy said. When everyone looked at him, he said, "Well, I can't see me being twenty-five and still going by Beast Boy. Can you?"

"He's got a good point," Jinx said supportively. "And we can't be the Teen Titans forever. Not that we have to stop being heroes, but the 'teen' part of the name can't work when we're not teenagers."

"Looks we've got some changes to make," Robin said with a smile.

Later that afternoon, Raven and Jinx were lounging on the half-circle couch in the Tower's main room. Raven was reading one of her many books, and Jinx was curled up against her with her head laying against her shoulder. Raven looked over at her girlfriend and said, "You know, I don't have to read. We can do something together."

"We are, Sweets," Jinx said, making Raven blush (as usual). "You're reading and I'm cuddled up against you, and we're enjoying being around each other." She leaned up and gave Raven a light kiss on the lips. "If you're worried about me feeling left out or ignored or something, you can stop. I'm fine just being around you. Unless . . . _you_ want to do something?"

"Well . . . ." Raven said, trailing off. "I was kind of wanting to take you out again."

"Really?" the sorceress asked, surprised. Raven nodded. "That sounds cool. What did you have in mind?"

"How about a movie?"

"Awesome. What one?"

"Well, there is a new monster movie that just came out."

"Seriously? You like monster movies?"

"Only certain ones."

"Same here. Kid Flash liked action movies too much for my taste."

"There's a showing at eight at the theater near our cafe."

"Cool."

The movie actually turned out to be better than either of the girls expected. And more surprising, as it turned out to be about a monster-hunting girl who falls in love with the daughter of the master vampire, who is betrothed to the son of the alpha of all of the werewolf legions. In the end, the hunter girl gets turned by her vampire love to save her life after almost sacrificing it to kill the werewolf guy with a silver cross pendant to the heart.

"That actually wasn't a bad movie," Jinx said as they left the theater.

"The trailers didn't give the impression it would be like that," Raven said.

"So? It turned out a lot better in my opinion," the other girl replied. Jinx reached over and grabbed Raven's hand. Raven looked over at her and smiled. Jinx would never get tired of that smile; it had a little something extra that told her it was just for her alone. The two of them walked away from the theater, still holding hands. Although they were just walking around, not really trying to go anywhere, they found themselves at 'their' park. And while they came here fairly often, something seemed different about it tonight.

"Sometimes," Raven said softly, ending the comfortable silence they were sharing, "I miss Terra." Although Jinx was instantly curious, she decided to be quiet and let Raven speak. "It was her that got me looking at those supernatural, monster movies in the first place. Although she liked them, she hated them, too, because they usually protrayed the monster as some form of evil. Neither of us could understand why Hollywood didn't seem to like representing the monsters as people trying to live their lives as best they could, with the humans' fear and ignorance being the real evil."

"I know what you mean," Jinx said, just as softly as her girlfriend had been while talking. "What was Terra like?"

"Insecure, at least in the beginning," Raven said, looking over at her and smiling a little sadly. "She was always afraid of not having control over her powers."

"Like you?"

"Not . . . exactly. I'm afraid of losing my control. My powers are based on my emotional state; the better I control my emotions, the more control I have over my powers. With Terra, it always seemed like a confidence issue."

"Did you two hit off right away?"

"Not at all," Raven admitted. "I felt like she was trying to take my place on the team - or at least, that's what I told myself. It wasn't until she left that I realized I liked her. So when she came back, I admitted my feelings to her."

"How'd she react?" Jinx asked, very curious now.

"She hugged me back. When she left, she told us it was because she was afraid of her lack of control over her powers and didn't want to hurt us. But when she came back, she confessed that the real reason was me."

"What do you mean?"

"She liked me, too, and was afraid that if she told me I would reject her. Even with us opening up to each other about our feelings, our relationship wasn't smooth in the beginning. And just when everything seemed to be going great . . . "

"She betrayed you?"

"The entire team, but I felt more betrayed than the others. Slade had encountered her after she'd left us, and played upon her insecurities about her powers to control her. He convinced her to go back to us, learn our weaknesses, and then use that knowledge to destroy us."

"I'm so sorry, Raven," Jinx told her. Raven gave her a grateful smile.

"Thanks," she replied. "I know it wasn't really her fault, but it was her choice to betray us. She tried to kill all of us, but didn't succeed. The others survived through luck, they told me, and I told them the same thing."

"The way you say that makes me think that it wasn't true."

"It wasn't; I was sinking into a pool of mud - it was pulling me under, truthfully - but even as I submerged, a bubble formed around me, keeping me alive."

"Terra saved your life even as she tried to end it?" Jinx's surprise wouldn't have been more obvious with neon signs.

"She still loved me," Raven replied. "I saw it in her eyes as I slipped under the surface of that mud pool. And then, when she turned on Slade in that underground cavern, I knew that she would always love me. She killed Slade, and then sacrificed herself to stop the volcanic eruption she had inadvertantly caused."

"She may have saved the city, but I bet her real reason was to save you."

"It was. I was there with her to the very end. She confessed that she had willingly made those choices, but that she regretted them more than anything. She didn't believe she deserved to be forgiven, and that even giving her life to save the city would absolve her of the blame. I told her that she could never forsake being responsible for her choices. She told me she understood if I didn't want to forgive her."

"You did, though," Jinx said.

"I never blamed her," Raven told her. "And I told her that. Watching her eyes, it was like I had given her back her soul or something."

"Realizing that the person you love more than anything in existence will always love you, no matter what, can do that."

"I wish I could've saved her. I watched as she turned to stone; it tore me apart. But even as she died, I saw in her eyes that she was at peace."

"Because you still love her."

"I don't know if I will ever stop loving her; she is my first love, after all." Raven smiled, then. "But my love you is more than I had with her."

"I feel kinda the same about Kid Flash, I guess," Jinx admitted. "I mean, I don't think I ever loved him, like you do Terra, but there was still something there."

"He didn't deserve you."

"Of course not; no boy or man deserves me," came the smirking reply. Then it disappeared. "The real reason we broke up, though, was because our 'relationship' was nothing but platonic. Sure, there was kissing involved, but it wasn't . . . it was missing something. A spark, passion, fire, whatever you call it. It was actually a mutual break-up; we knew that what we had was simply a close friendship."

"So you're still friends?"

"Of course. May not talk all that much right now, but I'm not worried about that. It was his ideas of romantic evenings that clued me in on the nuances of our relationship."

"You hoped for more out of it, though."

"Sure did. Too bad it never happened."

"I don't agree with that last part."

"Why not?"

"Because I wouldn't have you, then," Raven said, blushing.

"Good point, Sweets," Jinx agreed, smiling at Raven's double-blush. Right then, when their eyes met, something blossomed between them. Something deeper, more intense than what they had shared up to this point. Before they knew it, their lips were locked together and their arms were tight around each other. Almost without being aware of it, Raven teleported the two of them to her bedroom, where things quickly got more intense. As though possessed of their own life, the girls' outer garments flew off their bodies and all over Raven's room. Their hands roamed all over each other's bodies, exploring and caressing - in spite of their undergarments. Soon, though, even those impediments disappeared and they found themselves on Raven's bed, continuing their explorations of each other's body and taking their relationship to a more intimate level.

When the sun rose the next morning, Raven awoke feeling worn out but satisfied. She felt the weight of Jinx's arm on her side and her leg on her hip. Jinx's front was pressed against Raven's back, so she felt the enjoyable pressure of her lover's small breasts against her. _I never thought making love could be so gentle while being so passionate_, she thought to herself. _Even though I had to make sure not to lose control, it was still so _amazing_._ Raven knew that they should get up and get ready for the day, but she found she had absolutely no desire to leave that bed. Snuggling closer to Jinx - though as close as they already were that didn't seem possible - Raven thought, _The day can get ready without us_. Then she went back to sleep, feeling safe, secure, and loved.

**Author's Note:** Well, there you have it. Raven and Jinx kicked ass together, went on a pretty good second date, and ended up in bed together. Sure, I only hinted at what occured, but it happened. And it wasn't simple lust that put them in bed together, though I'm sure y'all don't need me to say that. Now I bet y'all are _really_ curious about what happened to them to tear them apart like the prologue shows.

**In the Next Chapter:** Raven and Jinx's love continues to deepen and they share another night together. The rest of them - except for Cyborg - chooses new costumes, and changes their name from the _Teen_ Titans. And whoever is out to destroy Raven begins their plan to do that very thing. Stay tuned for the next chapter of . . . **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**!

(Couldn't resist! :D)


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M.

**Author's Note:** I hope I made all of you curious with the last chapter's opening. What a nightmare, huh? Anyways, I also wanted to thank everyone who has not only read this story but reviewed it, too. Of course, those of you have read it but not reviewed it get thanks, too. But it's those who review it that help the story move along.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Chapter 7 - A Storm Is Coming**

When Raven and Jinx finally made their way out to the main area, they were the only ones in the Tower. According to one of the clocks, it was almost noon. Jinx volunteered to make them breakfast ("Or would it be lunch?" she asked Raven) while Raven made some tea. Jinx had been surprised to find that she actually liked tea; actually, she just liked Raven's tea. There was just something about the way she made it that made it superior to any other kind. At least, that's what she thought. For breakfast (since she wasn't sure what Raven liked) she made toast and eggs benedict.

"Is this okay?" Jinx asked, setting their plates on the table. Raven looked over and nodded.

"That's fine," she said. "I like eggs and toast." Bringing the now ready tea over to the table, Raven sat down next to Jinx and the two shared a warm, companionable silence. It was afterwards, when they had finished washing up their dishes, that the conversation they'd both known was coming happened.

"So, um, about last night," Jinx said, as the two of them sat down on the semi-circular couch in the 'living room' part of the main room. "Do you . . . regret it?" Raven raised a single eyebrow.

"Regret it?" she echoed. Then she smiled. "Why would I regret making love to the woman I love?" Jinx was extremely relieved at her girlfriend's answer, but she was still a little uncertain.

"Do you think it was too soon?"

Raven chuckled and hugged Jinx to her. "I think it happened when it was supposed to happen," she replied, giving her girlfriend a light kiss on the forehead. They both sighed contentedly and settled onto the couch, prefering to enjoy each other's company over watching TV. Several minutes later, their teammates walked in.

"Hey, glad to see you two are finally up," Robin said to the couple. "Trouble getting to sleep?" Both girls blushed when he asked that. _O-kay, I don't think I want to know_, he thought to himself.

"Where did you guys go?" Jinx asked.

"Grocery shopping," Cyborg said as he walked in holding four big paper bags of food.

"You can't call it grocery shopping!" Beast Boy exclaimed indignantly. "I had to pick up the tofu myself because you kept forgetting it or accidentally putting it back!"

"Who said I was forgetting, or that it was accidental?" came the retort. "You aren't getting that tasteless wannabe food anywhere near the real stuff!"

"It _is_ real! And it isn't tasteless! It's healthy for you!"

"Eating a _balanced_ meal is healthy! Eating that junk will send normal people to a hospital!"

"Please do not fight, friends," Starfire pleaded, floating into the room. "We should not do the fighting when we are all friends."

Raven and Jinx shook their heads at their friends' antics. There was no place like home. After everything was put away, Robin called a meeting.

"Yesterday, Jinx made a good point," he said without preamble. "We can't be the _Teen_ Titans forever. And it is about time we upgraded our uniforms. Suggestions?"

"Why don't you go with Nightwing?" Raven said. "After all, that's what Starfire said you went by when Warp dragged her into a possible future."

"I agree, man," Cyborg said. "After all, it's a lot cooler and more intimidating than 'Robin'."

"Okay, that's a good point," Robin/Nightwing admitted. "I _have_ been thinking about an all-black jump-suit as my new uniform."

"You shouldn't go _all_ black," Jinx told him. "Maybe add something to your chest like Batman does? Except one that reflects your new codename."

"Alright, I can go with that," Nightwing agreed.

"I want to give myself a new name, too," Beast Boy put in. "I think Changling is better for me. Because Beast _Man_ doesn't quite work."

"I think it is a wonderful name, friend Changling!" Starfire said, hugging the shapeshifter to the point of asphyxiation.

"Anybody else?" Robin asked. No one spoke up, and he nodded. "Alright. Beast . . . er, Changling, are you going to get a new look, too?"

"I dunno," he said. "I'll have to think on that."

"Fair enough. So, any suggestions for the team's new name?"

"We should keep Titans in it, for obvious reasons," Raven said. "We could go with just 'Titans'."

"I'm not sure if that'll work," Nightwing replied. "Maybe 'The Titans'?"

"A little confusing," Cyborg said. "New Titans?"

"Technically, we're not new," Jinx said. "Just updating ourselves. But we _would_ be a new group, I suppose."

"You do have a point, though," the cybernetic young man admitted. "What about Team Titans?" Nobody said anything. "Not a good idea, I know."

"Actually," Raven said slowly, "New Titans does sound more fitting for us. We are a new team since Jinx joined us. And since we are growing up, we are kind of becoming new people."

"You guys want to vote on it?" Nightwing asked.

"I don't think we need to," Jinx said. "Right?" The others, Nightwing included, nodded their heads.

"Since we are going to be the New Titans, I would like to have a more appropriate uniform as well, Nightwing," Starfire said.

"If that's what you want, Star," he said.

"It is," she replied. She looked over at Raven and Jinx. "Would you two like to help me pick one out at the mall of shopping?"

"You _can_ just say 'shopping mall' or just 'mall', Starfire," the hex girl told her. "I know that I would glad to help you out."

"Although I'm not much for shopping," the goth girl added, "I will be glad to help you out, too."

"Oh, thank so much, friends!" Starfire squealed in glee, moving to hug the two girls. But Raven teleported them out of the way just in time, and the Tamaranian impacted with the couch cushion they'd been sitting on.

"No hugs, though, please," Raven said dryly from the kitchen.

After helping Starfire pick out a new uniform - they had trouble convincing her that bras and underwear just weren't appropriate _outside_ the uniform, and managed to talk her into getting a pair of spandex-like pants that were the blue-violet shade of purple and a silver long-sleeved top - they decided to take a relaxing walk through their park. Both were dressed rather casually today: dark gray slacks with a dark blue 3/4-sleeve shirt for Raven, and a dark purple skirt with a ruffled black blouse for Jinx.

"I don't think I have ever been this happy," Jinx said after a while. They were now sitting on a bench in the park, just enjoying the day. Raven smiled and moved closer to her girlfriend, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"I know what you mean," she replied.

"What about your time with Terra?" came the hesitant question. Raven felt a slight emotional twinge from that question, but her love for the pink-haired hex girl overrode that small feeling of pain from the loss of her first love.

"The best time I had with Terra," she said quietly, "is nothing compared to the best times I have with you."

"Thank you," Jinx whispered softly.

"For what?" came Raven's reply.

"For being with me," the hex girl replied. "I felt so alone for so long, even when I was with my H.I.V.E. Five."

"Then I should be thanking you, too," the goth girl answered. "I was in a bad place when you entered my life that day. And since then, things have only gotten better."

"We haven't been together all that long, but I feel like I've never been without you, Raven."

"That is how I feel, too, Jinx."

Once again, Raven was being observed. Her observer watched her current actions with great disgust. _"Malignant creature,"_ it grumbled. _"Such a disappointment. Unwilling to embrace her true nature, afraid of losing her 'control'. So weak!"_ Nothing in the place the observer was in wanted to be near it; if they could have, they would have been long gone. It's malicious chuckle rocked through the area. _"Perhaps another . . . nudge . . . is in order. Something a little more to the point. Her desire for control will be her downfall."_

This time, Jinx and Raven came back to the Tower in a more 'normal' fashion; Raven teleported them to the common area before they hurriedly made their way to Raven's room. Fortunately, no one was around right then to ask awkward questions. After all, the way they were feeling right now, trying to educate Starfire on their 'predicament' would be far too much delay for their extremely limited patience. To further illustrate their impatience, both girls' shirts made into Raven's room before they did. Clad only in their bras and pants (skirt, in Jinx's case), they were holding onto each other tightly, their lips locked more tightly than an airlock door, and their hands were roaming all over each other's body. Their awareness was such that they didn't realize they had lost their pants and skirt until a breeze from the ventilation system caressed their bare legs. Of course, that made little impact on the two frenzied lovers.

Raven had known, of course, that her emotion of Lust was behind this frantic desire to divest Jinx of her clothes. Not that any of the others, nor Raven herself, were making any complaints. And if the sounds coming into Raven's mouth from Jinx's were any indication, the pink-haired girl was fully supportive of the actions currently taking place. They went from standing up to laying down when Jinx's knees backed into Raven's bed and she lost her balance. Again, neither noticed. Absentmindedly, Raven used her powers to lock her door - making sure _all_ of the locks were engaged; she still remembered that time when Cyborg and Beast Boy literally got inside her mind. But, as stated, she performed such an action without much thought; all of her attention was focused on the virtually naked girl underneath her. Although that changed in a second as Jinx used her acrobatic prowess to flip them over backwards so that she was on top.

Using her hex powers, Jinx snapped off Raven's bra - and unintentionally her panties. Raven, however, was more deliberate, and more devilish. She not only used her powers to remove the last two items keeping Jinx from being completely naked, but teased the other girl's sensitive spots with them at the same time. If her mouth hadn't been full of Raven's breast, Jinx probably would have said, "Hey!" or something similar; as it was, she bit down on the nipple she was teasing a little too hard. That, of course, only spurred Raven on, and pretty soon there were some loud moanings, groanings, cries, screams, and other noises associated with intercourse.

Thankfully, the personal rooms in the Tower were soundproof in every possible way.

_She was walking through ruins. It may have been a city at one point, but it was obvious that point was long gone. There were absolutely no signs off; she knew that there hadn't been any for almost as long as the city had looked like this. She wondered what had happened here. The city was completely gutted; not one building stood more than three stories tall. And many of them had once stood more than ten times that high. A chill wind was blowing through these ruins, bringing with it a feeling of deep and utter dread._

_This city looked like it was the same one as before, but it was more like ruins that imitated a city now. Nothing was crumbling; what could have crumbled had already done so. She was all alone this time, physically speaking. She could sense a malevolent presence, though. And though she could feel the wind moving through the city, nothing moved with the wind. The only sound was her feet on the street, the rustle of her clothes, and the wind moving through the ruins. All the rest was silence._

_She was more unnerved with this than she had been before. A thought occured to her: this place looked like Jump City had when Trigon had entered this reality. But was this her normal reality? A slight rustle behind her caused her to whirl around. Then her jaw dropped in shock. Standing there before her was . . . herself. But . . . this couldn't be right._

_**"Raven?"**__ asked herself. __**"It's . . . It's me, Anger."**_

_"Anger?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"_

_**"I don't know. I don't even know how I got here."**_

_"Something isn't right."_

_**"I . . . I don't feel right."**_

_"What do you mean?"_

_**"I feel . . . worse than usual. More . . . pronounced."**_

_"As in . . . 'almost out of control'?"_

_**"Yes. And that's making me angrier - go figure - which is making whatever is causing this . . . stronger."**__ The emotion looked at her, and Raven could see the eyes beginning to change. It looked as though . . . Raven went stiff in shock. It looked as though her demonic heritage was growing stronger._

_"But how can this be?" she asked. Anger didn't need to ask her what she meant; after all, as a 'physical' manifestation of Raven's emotion, she knew the instant Raven did._

_**"I don't know. The others are feeling it, too."**_

_"And you're the only one here?"_

_**"I was the only one who could risk this. You know how difficult it is to truly communicate with you without you coming in to your own mind."**_

_"How are the others doing?"_

_**"Better than I am,"**__ Anger admitted. __**"Love is holding everyone together. She admits to feeling the . . . the demonic influence, but it doesn't seem to be affecting her. And that has Knowledge - and me - worried."**_

_"You? You are worried?"_

_**"Very. Love should be feeling it as much as I do, since we are different sides of the same coin."**_

_"So who created this place?"_

_**"Whatever's feeding your demonic heritage would be my guess. I sensed what was happening and took over before it could stop me."**_

_"You can't be here much longer." It wasn't a command, but a statement of fact._

_**"No. But when I get back, the others and I will snap you awake so whatever is doing this won't have a chance - this time - to affect YOU."**__ Anger looked at her, her eyes turning back to normal. __**"I don't know if we can fight this. Knowledge thinks it's coming from your subconcious."**__ The emotion hesitated, it's image already beginning to fade. __**"Love asked me to tell you something."**_

_"What?"_

_**"She said that no matter what may happen because of this, DON'T STOP LOVING JINX!"**_

_"I won't."_

_**"Don't forget it. Or I'll come back and kick your ass myself!"**_

_With that closing remark, Anger faded completely away-_

- And Raven bolted up in bed with a strangled cry. Almost immediately, she felt Jinx's arms wrap around her.

"Raven? Sweets? What is it? What's wrong?" her lover asked, hugging her tightly.

"I - I don't know," she admitted, tears falling down her face. "I just don't know."

It chuckled, though its mirth was bittersweet. It had wanted to further its goal directly, but Raven's damnable emotions blocked him just as he had gotten started. But that may have been a blessing in disguise. If Raven was aware of what _seemed_ to be happening, then he might be able to use that in conjunction with her fear of losing control of her emotions and powers to bring that outcome about more swiftly than he'd originally planned. _"And after breaking her spirit, maybe I'll keep her around as a pet,"_ it said, enjoying the thought.

**Author's Note:** Okay, so this chapter isn't as long as the last one. But I got the feeling that ending it here was a good thing. Things are starting to pick up, and getting close to where y'all will find out how the prologue came to be. But all in good time. :-{)

**In The Next Chapter:** Next time, in Nothing Is Harder Than Love, Raven starts having issues with her powers, Jinx begins feeling as though things aren't like they have been, and the New Titans encounter several old enemies - one of whom seems to know more than he should.


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M.

**Author's Note:** I'm skipping ahead here, as far as the timeline goes. I could keep going on and on about how the two of them get along, how their love is getting deeper, how much closer they are getting; but that would do nothing to further the story itself, although it would be fun to write. So, on with the show!

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Chapter 8 - Demon Rising**

_Eighteen Months After "Where 'It' All Began"_

To Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, and Changling, it seemed as though the love Raven and Jinx shared would be eternal. Now, sure, there were arguments and fights - no relationship is totally without them - but their love for each other allowed them to resolve them without fuss. After they'd been together for about half a year, Jinx gave up the pretense of having her own room and moved into Raven's permanently. Though she never forgot her first love, Terra, Raven knew that she and Jinx were meant to be together. The only problem that she could see was her growing lack of control over her emotions. Though none of her emotions ever appeared in her dreams (or nightmares) after Anger's visit and warning, she knew that they were experiencing problems. Because about six months later, she began feeling the pull of her demonic heritage. She kept that from Jinx; she didn't want her beloved to worry. And she thought she could get a handle on it. But now, a year and a half after they'd first met at their cafe, she didn't think she could.

And that scared her a lot. She needed to control her emotions; they were the key to controlling her powers. She already knew what could happen if she lost control of her powers; after all, _that_ incident had led to Cyborg and Changling ending up in her head. To make things worse, she felt as though she was losing that intangible yet real connection to Jinx. It seemed that, sometimes, Love was missing from her mind. It didn't used to happen often, but now it seemed to be happening at a slowly increasing rate. Their lovemaking had changed, too; Raven had to keep more in control of herself instead of just letting go and enjoying the experience. She knew Cyborg was getting tired of replacing the T-Car's engine after every time Raven had an orgasm. She'd accidentally blown up the stove several times, too, when she became embarrassed from Jinx calling her 'Sweets'. Every one had noticed her . . . 'control issues', but no one said anything about them; except for Jinx, who tried to help her meditate. Raven knew Nightwing had concerns about this new trend, but out of respect for her he didn't say anything. She knew, though, that a confrontation about it was coming.

And she didn't know if she would have any answers for him.

"Something isn't right," Cyborg said.

"What do you mean, Cy?" Nightwing asked.

"With Raven. These little incidents over the past year or so aren't like her," the cybernetic Titan replied. Nightwing sighed.

"I know," he said. "But there's nothing we can do about it."

"We could talk to her," Changling suggested. "We're her friends, after all."

"You know she wouldn't share anything like that with us," Nightwing told him. "Jinx is probably the only one who would know, and she told me that Raven says it isn't a big deal."

"But you don't agree," Cyborg said.

"No," he agreed. "And neither does Jinx."

"The two of them do not seem as close anymore as they used to be," Starfire said. Her understanding of Earth had gotten better over the past year, and she wasn't as confused as she used to be anymore. "It is very upsetting. Especially since Jinx is considering moving back in to her old room here."

"That's not a good sign," Cyborg said with a sinking feeling.

"I think this goes deeper than just temporary, if frequent, losses of control," Nightwing said slowly. Tapping his chin, the black-clad leader of the New Titans thought carefully about Raven's recent behavior. "I think something's going on with her demonic blood."

"Do you think Trigon is trying to come back?" Changling asked. Nightwing shook his head.

"No, that plan failed totally thanks to Raven," he answered. "This is something different. But I wouldn't rule out the possibility." _And I get the feeling that something very, very bad is going to happen in the near future_, he kept to himself. _I just hope we can avoid it._

Jinx was sitting at the edge of the Tower's roof, swinging her feet and looking down at the ocean far below. She was alone, because Raven was meditating in their room. Taking a deep breath, she let it out as a long sigh. _Things sure are different now_, she thought. She couldn't exactly remember when things started to change from the deep, intimate, passionate love they had for each other to this slow drawing away they were going through now. It felt as though a clamp was slowly squeezing her heart, becoming tighter and tighter as the days wore on. A single made its way down her right cheek, hanging from her chin for a small but infinite moment before falling and making the long journey to the waters below.

"Why won't she tell me what's really wrong?" she asked herself softly, feeling an ache deep within her heart. "Why is she telling me that it isn't a big deal, when I can tell that is? She doesn't even tell me that her nightmares are happening more often now." More tears were falling now. She knew that Raven still loved her, but it seemed like somthing was masking it more and more now. She wanted to help, but didn't know how - especially since Raven wasn't letting her in as much as she used to. Jinx usually put her hair up in her trademark style; over the past few months, though, she stopped doing it everyday and would only do it for missions to keep up appearances. She knew that she should be heading inside now, to see if Raven was finished meditating, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

"I want my Raven back."

"Are we all here?" asked a severe-looking man. Looking around the conference room, he smiled as he saw that everyone he called for was here. "Good. Now, let us get started."

"Why did you ask all of us here?" Red X asked, tipping his chair back and propping his legs up on the table.

"Yeah, I've got better things to do," Doctor Light said condescendingly.

"Is that so?" their host asked, with no emotional inflection evident in his voice. "And what, pray tell, would that be? Stealing something for whatever purpose you have, only to be caught and captured by the Titans?" He raised one eyebrow in question; even _that_ gesture had a neutral inflection. Doctor Light slouched in his seat, sullen.

"Any other objections?" the man asked calmly. When no one spoke, he nodded and went on. "You all know, of course, of the Teen Titans' change into the New Titans. The leadership of Jump City has recognized them as a legitimate, albeit independent, crime-fighting organization and has given them permission to continue their mission. And the world is following suit. The New Titans may one day be regarded as well as the Justice League."

"Well, that ain't good," said Billy Numerous. "Cain't get nuthin' done then."

"So you have a plan to defeat the Titans?" Gizmo asked snarkily. He and Mammoth had been out of prison for five months now, but had laid low the entire time. "We've all done that; it hasn't worked yet."

"That is because we have all tried to _defeat_ the Titans," the old man replied. "Perhaps we should stop." _That_ caught everybody's attention.

"What do you mean by that?" Warp asked.

"I do not mean give up, if that thought crossed any of the minds here," he answered calmly. "If defeating the Titans has not worked in the past, perhaps we should do something other than defeat them." His smile sent chills down the spine's of many of those present. "Killing them, on the other hand, has only been done once in the past."

"_Kill_ the Titans?" Billy echoed incredulously. "Is that even possible?"

"It happened once," Red X told him. "Although it failed anyway."

"That is because Slade failed to take fully into account the tool he chose for the task," the old man said. "Terra had been influenced by the Titans before she came under Slade's tutelage. So her inevitable betrayal of Slade was no surprise to me."

"What's different about your plan? How is it going to succeed?" Warp wanted to know.

"The difference is that I am not going to be the one to kill the Titans," he said neutrally. "And none of you will do the task, either."

"Then why are we here?" Doctor Light demanded. "If you didn't bring us here to plan on how to kill the Titans, then this was a waste of time."

"Both of those statements, Doctor Light, are decidedly incorrect. We are, in fact, here to discuss the deaths of the New Titans - of Jump City, to start - so this meeting is not a 'waste of time'."

"So if we're not doing it, then who is?" Red X asked, intrigue in his voice.

"All in good time," the old man said, "all in good time. To bring about the deaths of the New Titans, we must first strike in ways that force them to react to us. And we must do so in a way that masks our true intent."

"I'm in," Gizmo said. Mammoth nodded. Cinderblock and Plasmus, not even as sharp as the dullest tools in the shed, nodded along with him.

"I don't see that I have any choice," Doctor Light said grudgingly.

"Oh, there is indeed a choice," he was told. "You can leave if you wish, and no one would stop you. Stay, and you can make the first strike of this plan."

"What's the catch?"

"You will be the first captured. But not the last. You will not remain in confinement, however. The plan is to wear the Titans out, striking fast but with precision. Simply making random attacks, stealing random items, will not work in the long run. There must be a difficult to discern yet somewhat obvious 'master plan' for them to uncover. That will further serve to distract them from the true goal of this operation."

The alarms in Titans' Tower went off in an ear-grating cacophony, drawing everyone to the main room. Jinx was the last to arrive, so she was able to hide her tear-reddened eyes from the others. Taking her normal place next to Raven, she felt her lover grab her hand and give it a gentle squeeze. Glancing over at Raven, she saw an inquiring smile on her face. Jinx shook her head slightly, not wanting to talk about it right then, and Raven squeezed her hand in reply.

"Cyborg, what is it?" Nightwing asked.

"It's Doctor Light," he replied. "He's attacking the Jump City Technological Innovation Labs downtown."

"What's there?"

"Quite a bit, actually, but nothing that would seem to interest Light at first glance."

"But there is something there?"

"Something with potential, yes."

"Raven," Nightwing said, turning to her. "Can you teleport us there? Safely?"

"Look, Nightwing, I know I've been having some minor problems with controlling my powers during extreme emotional situations, but I can do this with no problems," she replied defensively. Everyone was surprised by her reaction, although only Jinx and Starfire showed it; Nightwing just nodded.

"Alright, Titans, let's go!"

They arrived outside the JCTIL facility a few seconds later. Doctor Light's method of entry was immediately evident - after all, it is rather hard to miss a large hole in the wall.

"Gee, I wonder where he got in at?" Jinx asked too innocently. Changling chuckled at the joke, Cyborg shook his head, Nightwing sighed, Raven smothered a giggle, and Starfire said, "I believe it is that hole in the way in front of us."

"Let's go," Nightwing said.

"I used to live in a hole in the wall," Jinx said.

"So this a homecoming for you?" Changling asked, smirking.

"Probably more for you than for me," came the rather clever retort.

"Can we please be serious here?" Nightwing asked. "Raven. Any idea where he's at?"

"He's coming up towards us from the bottom level," she replied after a couple of moments. "Too many emotional echoes to be more accurate than that."

"Can you get us to him?"

"She doesn't need to do that," Doctor Light replied, stepping out of the whole he'd made, with some sort of high-tech looking device under his arm. "I'm right here."

"Alone? Are you serious?" Changling asked.

"Very," the villain replied, firing a beam of light from the emitter in the chest of his robotic armor. Raven threw up a shield that would've easily stopped a normal blast from Doctor Light; this one, however, tore right through it and would have hit Changling if he hadn't ducked at the last second. The car behind him, however, wasn't so lucky; it exploded upon contact with the energy beam.

"Play time is over," Doctor Light said. "Welcome to the Big Leagues, kiddies." He fired off another beam, which was easily avoided by Cyborg, who replied with a blast from his sonic cannon. The super villain stumbled back several steps but didn't fall. "I've upgraded my capabilities considerably," he taunted. "Time to . . . 'enlighten' you to them."

"You know," said a voice from behind him, "you should really look where you're going."

Whirling around, Light saw Jinx standing behind him. He took a step back to put a little more distance between himself and her - and stepped right into a hole. Although he still fired off his laser, that stumble altered his angle of attack and the beam missed Jinx by a couple of feet. He stumbled backwards in an attempt to regain his balance. He did, only to be hit by Changling who had shapeshifted into a rhinoceros. He went flying in one direction, and his purloined item flew in another. It disappeared into some shrubbery around the JCTIL facility, while he rose into the path of a starbolt from Starfire. The energy ball connected with his armor with force equal to a hand grenade - but didn't explode until a few seconds later, which it did with tremendous force. The light-themed villain flew backwards into a net composed of dark energy - courtesy of Raven. A burst of energy from each emitter, large and small, on his armor allowed Doctor Light to break out of Raven's net. Getting back to his feet, he let loose rapid bursts of energy that had the New Titans dodging to avoid them. One beam, though, intersected Jinx's leg even as she was evading another shot. Crying out in pain, she hit the ground harder than she intended to, and hurt the ankle of her previously uninjured leg. When Raven heard her lover's cry, she lost it. For just a few seconds. But it was long enough.

A burst of rage-fueled dark energy shot through the air and slammed into Doctor Light enough force to hurl him through several trees and leave a three-foot deep crater in the ground. Before he could even realize what had happened, Raven was there and lifting him up into the air with a tendril of darkness that quickly grew to envelop his torso and bind his arms to it. Looking up at him, her eyes morphed from two dark violet colored eyes to four glowing red eyes. Without any other change of expression, she began squeezing him harder and harder. As soon as his armor started cracking and sparking, Nightwing realized what was happening and shouted, "Raven, stop!" His voice startled her enough to break the effect, and her eyes returned to normal. Doctor Light, released from her dark grip, hit the ground in the same crater he'd been picked up from. Cyborg jogged over and disabled his armor. Nightwing walked up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay, Raven?" he asked her. Without answering, she whirled away from him and strode over to Jinx. A little in shock at witnessing Raven's loss of control, the pink-haired New Titan didn't react to her presence at first. When Raven began examining her injuries, though, she realized her lover was their and jerked back a little in surprise. Blushing with embarrassment, she mumbled, "Sorry, Sweets." Raven didn't even blush this time. Saying, "Don't worry about it," she concentrated her powers extra carefully and healed Jinx's sprained ankle and the hole punched through her thigh by the laser. "There'll be a small scar on your leg," Raven told her, helping her stand, "but you're okay now."

Jinx hugged Raven to her, and felt her return the hug somewhat hesitantly. Many reasons for that flitted through the hex girl's mind, but only one really made sense: she was still thinking about her lapse of control and was worried about hurting anyone else.

"It's okay, Raven," she said softly. "You didn't mean to." Raven hugged Jinx tighter. _I love you for saying that Jinx_, she thought to herself, _but . . . I not only meant to, I intended to do worse. A _lot_ worse._

_And that's what scares me._

No one made mention of Raven's action that night, but no one forgot about it. Discreetly, they all began keeping a closer eye on her. They weren't as discreet as they thought, however, because Raven knew what they were doing. And she didn't blame them. After all, she had fully intended to crush Doctor Light within his armor like an empty soda can. About a week after the capture of Doctor Light - the device he'd stolen had been returned, but a couple of other things had turned up missing instead - the New Titans received another alert: Cinderblock and Plasmus were attacking an automotive factory, attempting to steal some of the engines meant to go in the vehicles.

"First Doctor Light, now Plasmus and Cinderblock?" Cyborg said as the effects of Raven's teleportation wore off. "And within a week of each other?"

"You think something's going on?" Nightwing asked.

"Not enough evidence to be sure, but I've got a hunch that that's it," he admitted.

"So what are we waiting for?" Changling asked, turning into a gorilla. The New Titans ran to the sounds of tortured metal and found the two massive villains making off with two engines apiece. Starfire didn't give Plasmus the chance to spit off pieces of himself to fight them; she sent a massive starbolt from both of her hands into him and exploded the goo, leaving a barely concious human laying in a puddle of the goo. The two engines he'd been carrying would have the ground right next time, but Raven caught them in time to lower them gently to the ground. Cinderblock threw one of his engines at Cyborg, who blasted it apart with a burst from his right arm sonic cannon. The other was thrown at Changling but at the moment it left Cinderblock's hand he slipped in a puddle of Plasmus goo that hadn't been there a moment ago and the engine flew up into the air - and landed on his head. Stumbling around, he swung a massive fist that Raven was too slow to dodge. Slamming into the concrete wall of a building several dozen yards away, she lost conciousness. But a demonically-affected Anger took control.

With a cry of rage, 'Raven' flew towards the super villain and slammed a powerful burst of dark energy into him, sending him flying backwards. Before the other New Titans could react, she'd grasped him in a 'fist' of darkness and was slamming him around. He hit the ground several times (too many times, in fact), walls of buildings, assembly equipment, and the ground several more times.

"Raven! That's enough!" Nightwing shouted. When she met his gaze, halting her brutal punishment of Cinderblock while doing so, he felt his blood run cold. Instead of her normal gaze, two pairs of glowing red eyes glared at him. For a while, no one moved. Then, without warning, Raven dropped Cinderblock to the ground. Closing her four eyes, Raven didn't move for a while. When her eyes opened again, it was her normal pair. Blinking several times in confusion, she looked at Robin quizzically and said, "I don't feel too good." Then her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed to the ground, unconcious. But she didn't hit the ground; Jinx had rushed up to her and skidded on her knees to stop behind her, catching her before she could impact the pavement.

_What's going on?_ they all thought.

It was a few hours after the battle with Cinderblock, and Raven still hadn't regained conciousness. Jinx wanted to stay at Raven's side and never leave, but the goth girl's behavior over the past several months had her wary. And her actions during the last two battles had her worried. She didn't know Raven as long as the others had, but she thought she knew her better because of how close they had been. _Those nightmares are changing her_, she thought, feeling the ache in her heart anew.

"Everything will be okay, girl," Cyborg said, coming up behind her in the Tower's infirmary.

"Will it?" Jinx whispered softly. "Will it, really? Cyborg, she doesn't tell me things anymore. She has nightmares, but lies to me about them. The losses of control over little things that she then says are no big deal?" She looked over at her friend. "How can it be better if she's lying to me?"

"I don't know, Jinx," he confessed. "I would say that maybe she doesn't want to worry you, but I'm not sure if that's the whole truth. Or even the truth at all. Other than Terra, you're the only person Raven's ever really gotten close to. And you're closer to her than Terra ever was."

"If that's true, then why isn't she telling me what's really going on? Doesn't she trust me?"

"Jinx, I don't have the answers," he told her. "The only one who does is Raven. Nightwing, Changling, Starfire, and myself are your friends. We'll always be there for you. You know that."

"But what if I decide to leave?" she asked him. "That could hurt Raven a lot. Would any of you still be friends with me then?"

"I can't speak for the others on that, but I'll always be your friend."

"Will you still be Raven's friend?"

"Of course." He sighed. "I don't know why you're even asking questions like this. You and Raven? You two have something special, one of those 'love for eternity' things."

"It doesn't feel like it," Jinx replied, despair filling her voice. "Not anymore. It's like I'm back with Kid Flash again - only worse."

Nightwing and Starfire sat together on the couch in the common room. Like Cyborg, they were very worried about Jinx and Raven.

"This is not right, Nightwing," Starfire said. "I do not understand what is going on with Raven."

"No one does, Star," he replied. "Not even Jinx."

"But they are _belshav'liane_," she exclaimed in surprise.

"They are what now?"

"_Belshav'liane_," she repeated. "It is . . . hard to translate into Earth terms. I suppose you could say it means 'the two hearts that are one now and forever and beyond'."

"That's pretty deep," he said.

"That is why I am worried now. _Belshav'liane_ should not be going through what they are going through."

_Raven stood alone in a desolate landscape. Wind and dust whipped around her, causing her jacket to also whip around. There was nothing here, though. No trees, no buildings, no mountains or mesas, nothing. Just an endless expanse of dirt whipped into clouds by an ill wind._

_'Where am I?' she asked herself, her voice echoing throughout the place. 'Hello? Is anyone here?' There was no response, excpet for her voice echoing back to her from everywhere. 'Jinx? Cyborg? Anyone!' Nothing but echoes. Raven sat down in the dirt. Drawing her knees to her chin, she wrapped her arms around them and began rocking slowly back and forth. She'd never been this alone before. She couldn't sense anyone. Tears began falling down her face. She didn't want to be alone. Not anymore._

_'I want my Jinx back,' she cried softly._

**Author's Note:** How's _that_ for an ending, eh? I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Things are starting to pick up now. The surprises won't stop here, though.

**In The Next Chapter:** Raven's control issues continue to worsen, the villainous alliance keeps pushing the New Titans - specifically, Raven - off balance. Jinx starts to become depressed, and decides to confront Raven about everything. The mastermind behind the villains' plan becomes revealed, and Raven's actions have some devastating consequences. (And if you guys want more, you better read and review!)


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M.

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the delay in this chapter; I wanted to make sure it was right, and lived up to the expectations for it. Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for since the prologue. I know that all of you have been wondering what the hell Raven did to cause Jinx to do what she did. Well, in this chapter, you'll find out. You'll also find out what happened in the mean time, between 'it' and the start of the prologue. I know, I know, enough talking, get it on with it already.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Chapter 9 - This Is 'It'**

Deep underground, in a hidden room that itself lies within a hidden facility, the man who had brought a few of the Titan's enemies sat in the middle of a circle of arcane design etched into the floor. Etched into the walls of the room were more arcane designs and symbols. Few people in this dimension could understand them, much less utilize them. Only two were in Jump City. Before the man, who was seated in a lotus position, floated a shimmering oval that rippled and wavered like water does when it is disturbed. A deep, powerful voice eminated from the 'ripple', which pulsated in time with the words.

_"You have done well, my servant,"_ it said.

"Your instructions on when and how to push her were most informative," the man replied. "I merely listened to the wisdom of one who is wiser than I."

_"Do not cross me,"_ it warned him. _"I am not . . . forgiving . . . with those who do so."_

Raven was different.

It wasn't just her uncharacteristic control (or lack thereof); she was behaving differently. She was back to talking in a monotonous tone, but there was an undercurrent of impatience to it now. Her anger flared more and more often, though she didn't reach the same 'demonic state' that she had during the battle with Cinderblock. It seemed to the others that her meditations made the problem worse, rather than better. It was getting to the point that Cyborg had begun quietly preparing some special tranquilizers - just in case. Starfire was becoming distressed by Raven's continued behavior towards Jinx. Compared to how they used to be, it was as though the two girls were enemies now. At least, that's how the Tamaranian princess saw it. And Nightwing feared that she was right, to an extent.

Raven walked through the desolate landscape her mind had become. She was looking for her emotions, specifically Love, but wasn't able to find any of them. It was as though they were hiding from her, which was odd in itself; Anger should've been there to tell her off and Courage never ran away or hid from anything.

So where were they?

She went to the area of her mind where Love had taken up residence when she'd first awakened - she didn't 'move' when Jinx rekindled her - only to find herself blocked from entering.

"She isn't there anymore," came her own voice, though with a different inflection, from behind her. Turning around, Raven saw it was Knowledge.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"She went in months ago and never came out," was the reply.

"She should still be there, then."

"Agreed. But she isn't."

"How do you know?"

"I'm Knowledge, remember? Besides, before it somehow became impassable, Timid went in."

"Timid?" Raven asked incredulously.

"Surprised everyone," Knowledge admitted. "Of course, Courage wasn't about to be outdone by her and ran in without thinking - as usual." She sighed. "When they came out, they said Love wasn't there. And shortly after that, we couldn't go in anymore."

"What's going on?"

Knowledge snorted. "You really have to ask?" she said. "After Anger's warning a year and a half ago? Raven, you aren't you anymore." She looked at her long and hard. "And it started when Love began disappearing from us."

"Disappearing?"

"Yes. Fear was, well, afraid that she'd seen something following Love one day and told Courage. Courage ran off to confront it - and came back badly hurt. I would have said Anger did it, but she was with me at that time."

"Anger has changed a lot, especially since Terra died," Raven argued.

"True, she was better when Love first appeared, and when Jinx came into your life," Knowledge agreed. "But over the past year and a half she's changed in a bad way. She really started changing after she managed to get that warning to you." Then the emotion looked at her strangely. "But you should have already known that. Especially with all of those outbursts you've had lately."

"I . . . I'm just . . . under some stress," she said in weak denial.

"What stress? Those nightmares? _Those_ are tied to whatever - or whoever - took Love."

"Whoever?"

"Yes, that _is_ part of what I said. There's a familiar aura in your unconcious, near the subconcious. We haven't gone in there because I'm not certain we would be able to come back out without your help. And you're not very reliable right now."

That hurt, but Raven knew it was true. She hadn't been reliable at all for a while. Yet try as hard as she tried, nothing changed. For the better, that is.

"I'll figure it out later," she said as turned to leave. Knowledge reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

"You need to figure it out now," she told her sternly. "Or there may not be a later."

When Raven came back to herself, the first thing she became aware of was the sound of an alert. Snapping her eyes open, she unfolded from her levitating lotus position and glided out of her room. Upon reaching the common room, she noticed that Jinx and the others were already there.

"Glad you could make it, Sweets," Jinx said in a rather flat voice. Raven didn't even wince at her tone.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Trouble with a capital big," Cyborg replied. "Someone's attacking Technological Innovations."

"Again?" Nightwing asked. Cyborg shook his head.

"No, this time they're after the main research and development facility in the inner city," he replied. "TI's security forces are trying to keep them from the experimental labs, but aren't succeeding."

"Looks like we've got a job to do," Nightwing said. He walked over to Raven, while Jinx went over to Starfire. Lowering his voice, yet maintaining a stern tone, he said, "I don't know what shit is going on with you, but you keep it together this time. If you can't control yourself, I'm cutting you from all future missions. Understand?" Raven felt her anger well up; how could he talk to her like that? What made her anger grow was the knowledge that he was right.

"Perfectly," she replied in a flat monotone, the faint red glow fading from her eyes.

"You better," he warned. Then, louder, he said, "Alright, take us there."

The trip from the Tower to the TI facility through Raven's soulself was worse this time; probably due to Raven's weakening control over her emotions. Everyone was thankful when they appeared outside the building.

"I'm not picking up any sounds around here," Cyborg said, studying the readout on his arm. "At least, nothing that isn't normal for this time of day. Er, night."

"So they've gone deeper into the facility?" Changling asked.

"Yes; most of the main facility is underground."

"Terrific," Raven said in a monotone.

"Makes me all tingly inside," Jinx agreed in the same monotone. Nightwing heard their voices and sighed. _This situation is going to explode_, he thought, _and soon._ Out loud, though, he said, "Let's find them and stop them."

As they moved through the building floor by floor, always going down, they saw the bodies of the guards sprawled everywhere. The once pristine-white hallways had received a new, ominous red paint scheme. Apparently, the gloves were off and the villains weren't holding back this time. _This could be really bad_, Nightwing thought. _Especially where Raven is concerned._ He was already thinking about cutting her off from active duty with the team after this mission; at least until she got herself straightened out. Once they got to the lowest floor of the TI facility, things worsened.

The people attacking the place weren't meta-humans; they were H.I.V.E. combat drones of an unfamiliar design. They had bulky forearms, hunched armored torsos, and forward-thrusting, angular 'heads'. When the Titans appeared, the drones turned and their forearms swapped out the hand manipulators for heavy blaster cannons. Raven and Jinx moved in tandem, Jinx sending hex bolts at the robots while Raven threw up a shield to deflect the laser fire. Changling turned into an ankylosaurus and charged forward as Raven dropped her shield, while Cyborg and Starfire started sending sonic barrages and starbolts at the drones. Nightwing flung his blade-edged bird-a-rangs, which sliced into the drones before exploding.

Raven, meanwhile, held up a small shield of dark energy that she moved around to deflect lasers while simultaneously crushing the machines' weapon-arms with her power. _This is taking too long_, she thought, her anger welling up. Abandoning her defensive actions, she formed her energy into a large sphere and slammed into the midsts of the drones before releasing it. A massive explosion rocked the area, sending anything standing to floor.

"Watch it!" Jinx snapped at her. "We're here, too, damnit!"

"We were taking too long," Raven growled back.

"That's enough!" Nightwing commanded. "Bad guys now, quarrel later!"

Sending each other dark glares, the two girls followed their teammates into what appeared to be a long corridor. No sooner had they gotten past the door when it slammed down. More doors slammed down in the corridor, isolating Raven from the others. Before she could rip apart the doors, the 'section' she was in started ascending - meaning that it was an elevator. She tried to quell her rising anger, but knew it was a losing fight. _Why bother?_ she thought morosely. _It isn't as if it would make any difference anymore._ Just then, the elevator stopped moving and the door behind her slid up into the ceiling. Turning around, she saw a large room of some kind. A tower of some sort was in the middle of the room, locked into a base in a concave dip in the floor - with a matching one in the ceiling. Looking around, she saw that there were elevated monitoring stations all around the room, plus a 'command station platform' about halfway down each side of the room.

"Welcome, Raven," came a familiar voice over the speakers. "I am pleased that you could make it on such short notice."

"Why don't you get out here?" she snapped. "Stop hiding like a coward!"

"You really should watch that temper," came the voice again, although this time it wasn't echoing from the speakers, but coming from one of the CSPs. She watched as an old man in a red-and-black jumpsuit with a custom-worked jacket over it.

"Blood," she growled, her fists lighting up with dark energy.

"I am glad you did not disappoint me, Raven," Blood said, smiling condescendingly to her. "After all, I went to so much trouble to bring you to this point."

"What are talking about?" she snapped, irritated with his oh-so-superior attitude.

"You honestly do not know?" he said, pretending shock. "I thought you would have figured it out by now. All those little attacks here and there, stealing devices that had no apparent connection to each other? The menagerie of villains you keep capturing over and over again? The clues that seemed to indicate some devastating plan of evil?" He chuckled with great amusement. "It was all a 'red herring', I believe is the term."

"What?" she asked, shock momentarily cutting through her anger.

"That is correct," Blood told her. "None of it was intended for anything other than to run _you_, and you alone, ragged. To stress you out, stretch you thin. Everything else was dressing to distract your friends."

"Why? What reason could you have for doing this?"

"Power."

"You're not making any sense!" she yelled, slamming him into a wall with blast of darkness. His only reaction was to chuckle as he picked himself up from the floor where he'd fallen to.

"I made a deal," he told her calmly, brushing his clothes off. "I get power, and my partner gets revenge."

"What partner?"

"You should know him already, my child. You _have_ dealt with him once already."

"Tell me! NOW!"

Nightwing and the others had easily escaped the trap they'd walked into, and Cyborg had hacked TI's network and learned about the central area, which the floor plans referred to as the 'artificial inducement center'. And judging by the signal from Raven's communicator, that's where she had ended up. Whoever was behind all of this had to be there, too, and Nightwing was trying to get there as fast as possible - before anything could happen. He had a rapidly sinking feeling, though, that they wouldn't be in time.

"We've got to move faster!" he urged.

"We can't if I'm checking for traps," Cyborg argued.

"Screw the traps! We've got to get to Raven!"

Blood was chuckling at her. Again. He seemed to find her amusing, which only infuriated her further.

"You are pathetic, child," Blood said. "How you could have stopped him is beyond me."

"Start talking," Raven growled, her eyes glowing a vibrant and dangerous red, "or I start ripping you apart."

"That," he told her, "is something you will not do. You are incapable of it."

"Try me," she said softly, all four of her eyes glowing an angry and demonic red.

All five of the New Titans stopped in cold dread when they heard a blood-chilling scream erupt from somewhere ahead of them. To Jinx, though, the scream seemed to reach down into her soul and chill it from the core. They all broke into a dead run, heedless of anything but getting to that room. They got there in less than half a minute, but that was still thirty seconds too late. When the door to room slid up into the ceiling, the sight that greeted hit them with enough force to make them stumble back.

"Oh. My. God," Cyborg said, while Changling turned away and began heaving up every bit of tofu he'd eaten all day. Starfire's hands flew to her mouth, and she buried her head in Nightwing's shoulder, while Jinx just stared in complete and utter shock and horror. The artificial inducement center looked as though it had been spray painted red and decorated with garish garlands. And there, in front of the central computer/virtual operations tower, stood Raven. She was holding Brother Blood in her hand - or, rather, what was left of him. And when Raven turned to look at them, her expression frightened all of them worse than anything ever had before: four glowing demonic red eyes and a sinister smile that showed she had enjoyed what had happened.

Far away, in another dimension, the true instigator behind everything that had occured over the past eighteen months was chuckling with malicious amusement. Everything had gone as he had planned it. _Revenge is just_, he thought, laughing louder. _What a delicious turn of events _this_ turned out to be. Her anger didn't overwhelm her; it _consumed_ her. Soon enough, she will be coming to me. And then I shall truly . . . enjoy 'talking' to her._

When Raven awoke back at the Tower, she found herself in the sealed room tht had been created for her when her dark destiny had come calling. Sitting up, she winced as the dull ache in the back of her head intensified into a sharp piercing pain.

"Ow!" she cried out, grabbing her head. "What happened?"

_"Glad you're awake,"_ came a voice over the intercom.

"Cyborg?" she asked, rubbing her head.

_"Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling?"_

"Like shit," she replied. "What happened?"

_"We were hoping you could tell us."_

"What do you mean?"

_"Raven, you killed Blood."_

"No," she breathed. "No."

_"I'm sorry,"_ he told her, _"but it's true. Not only were you holding what was left him, drenched in his blood, but the security tapes confirmed it."_

"No. No. Oh, no," she said in denial.

_"I wiped the the entire security system with a special viral program. It'll scramble any attempts to reconstruct the record,"_ he said. _"Nightwing told me to do it. And . . . I'm sorry."_

"About what?" she asked in a whisper, her gaze falling down to her lap.

_"For knocking you out. I'd prepared a special tranquilizer that was targeted on your blood, and was engineered to . . . well, reboot your nervous system. Basically."_

"Is that what happened?"

_"Partially. A side effect of the forced reboot is partial memory loss. You won't remember much of what happened up to, roughly, five minutes before you got hit with it. Do you remember anything at all?"_

"I . . . remember getting separated from you guys," she said slowly. "And then the 'room' I was in rose like an elevator, and then I was standing in that room. Blood was there. It was him." She looked at where she though Cyborg would've place the micro-camera array. "He was behind all of the attacks, the thefts."

_"Why? Did he say what his plan was? Was Nightwing right?"_

"No. No, he was completely wrong. There wasn't any overall plan; all he was doing was trying to get me angry, to push me to the breaking point."

_"And he succeeded."_

"He did."

_"But why was he doing that? What could've been his reasons?"_

"He wanted power. Someone, or something, had promised him a lot of power to do it all. Whoevever, or whatever, it is, wanted revenge on me." She looked back down at her lap. "I don't know why. I don't know who, either. And I bet everybody hates me, now."

_"No one hates you, Rae. They're all just . . . scared."_

"What about you? Aren't you scared?"

_"Not so much. I always knew you could crush me like a tin can if you wanted to."_

Raven couldn't help herself; she chuckled a little at that.

_"Raven . . . no one wants to let you out."_

That didn't come as much of a shock to her as she would have thought.

"I . . . understand," she said. "Considering what's been happening, I don't blame them."

_"Nightwing thought you would, so he told me to let you out when you regained consciousness."_

"Somehow, I get the feeling that I'd be better off in here."

Her assumptioin was correct; Nightwing met her in the common room - alone. Cyborg went down to the garage as soon as he'd unlocked the chamber, and Starfire and Changling had gone to mall. Jinx was nowhere to be found, although Raven knew she was around. The lecture she got from Nightwing was both better and worse than she'd expected. Worse, in that he came down hard on her about her behavior over the past year and a half, her actions in and out of battle, and most especially her actions at the Techological Innovations facility. She didn't say anything; what could she have said? She had no excuses, not anymore. And, she realized, no desire to defend herself, either. Everything he said was true. What made the lecture better than she'd expected was that, while he was saying she was responsible for each and every one of her actions, he didn't yell at her, didn't take the high moral ground, didn't come off as the team leader; instead, he talked to her as a friend. Something she felt she didn't deserve to be called, considering how she treated everyone. _Especially_ Jinx. And _that_ conversation was one she dreaded.

Because she had a feeling that it would be far, far worse than the one with Nightwing.

When Raven went looking for Jinx, she found her where she had expected to find her: in her room, sitting on her bed. She hesitated in the doorway, not wanting to be here but not wanting to leave, either. When Jinx noticed her, after several minutes of waiting there, the expression on her face broke Raven's heart. Where before, meaning 18 months or so ago, there would have been a love too deep to be fathomed, there was nothing. Before, they would have hugged for several minutes, enjoying the feel of each other; now, she had been ignored - or not noticed - for just as long. And Raven had no one to blame but herself.

"What do you want?" Jinx asked in a neutral voice that cut through Raven's soul.

"I . . . I . . ." Raven couldn't speak; what could she say. "I don't know."

"Funny," the other girl replied. "Once, you would've known exactly what to say. Once, you might not have needed to say anything."

"What do you want me to say?" Raven asked, her voice showing a small hint of irritation; something Jinx noticed easily.

"I want you to tell me what's going on with you," Jinx answered, letting her own irritation show. "And I want the truth this time."

"You think I've lied to you?"

"I know you have. It doesn't take a genius to realize that your 'no big deal' control issues are actually a big deal."

"They weren't that big of a deal."

"They weren't?" Jinx asked incredulously. "You get irritated about something Changling says, and the stove explodes. You get angry about something, and the engine in Cyborg's car explodes. And that's in the garage in the Tower's base! Don't tell me it's not that big of a deal!" Raven opened her mouth to speak, but Jinx didn't give her a chance to talk. "And what about your nightmares? I know they kept waking you up, even after you lied to me about them stopping! Did you think I was really asleep next to you every time that happened? Raven, I loved you. You should have known you could tell me anything, and it would have stayed between us unless you said otherwise! I could've helped you, damnit!"

"Loved?" Raven whispered hoarsely. "Not love?"

"The girl I fell in love with two years ago wouldn't have done what you did. How can I love someone who doesn't love me?"

"I do love you!"

"Do you? Really? I wish I could believe that now. But your actions say you don't."

"If it weren't for me, you could've been badly hurt several times during missions!"

"Several times, I had to rely on one of the others to help me because you lost control of yourself! I couldn't rely on you then, Raven! And I can't rely on you now!"

"My problems weren't my fault! They were Blood's!"

"Sure," Jinx drawled sarcastically. During their growing argument, the two had unknowingly moved closer and closer together, even as their voices got louder and louder. "Blame the guy you murdered!"

"He was the muderer! Do you know how many people _he's_ killed?"

"I don't care! _You_ killed _him_! Think about that! He's the villain! You're the hero! The hero is supposed to bring villains to _justice_, not _judgement_!"

"Are you saying he didn't deserve to die?"

"I'm saying it wasn't your place to decide! And you can't blame your fucking nightmares on him!"

"He can manipulate minds! He probably _was_ behind them!"

"Probably? That's all you've got? Probably?" Jinx snorted in derision. "You can't even defend yourself properly!"

"I shouldn't have to defend myself! Especially against you!" Raven snapped at her. "Where do you get off lecturing me about good and evil? You were a villain!"

"I never murdered anybody!" the hex girl yelled. Unbeknownst to them, Nightwing and Cyborg had vacated the Tower by T-Jet the moment Raven left the common room. "I never rejected the help of my friends! I didn't lie to the woman I love!"

"How could anyone have helped me with controlling my emotions?" the goth girl yelled back. Lights throughout the Tower were exploding (the stove had already exploded, again), and the elevators where shaking badly. "My powers are tied to my emotions! You know that! I have to control my emotions to control my powers!"

"Yeah, you're doing a _fantastic_ job on _that_!"

"Shut up."

"That's your problem, you know that? You're so afraid of losing control of your powers that you don't realize that _that's_ the problem!"

"Shut up!"

"Stop being afraid of your fucking emotions!"

"Shut up!"

"You're not listening to me!" Jinx screamed. "I hate you!"

"SHUT UP!"

With that, Raven's tenuous control snapped and a burst of dark energy slammed Jinx into the wall with tremendous force. The only thing that stopped her from going through the wall was Raven's shock at what she had done.

And Jinx wasn't moving.

Raven yanked her communicator out of her pocket as she ran to Jinx, and frantically called up Cyborg.

"I need help! Please, Cyborg! I need you here! Now!"

By the time Cyborg, Nightwing, Starfire, and Changling had gotten back to the Tower, Raven had already carried Jinx to the infirmary and hooked her up to the medical systems. She was freaking out, badly; tears were streaming down her face like a water through a river during flood season. Cyborg took over, with Changling's help, while Nightwing and Starfire helped Raven leave. They took her to the common room, and sat her down. Nightwing stayed silent, while Starfire gently coaxed the story of what had happened out of Raven. It took a while, because Raven kept breaking down into soul-shaking tears, but the two finally learned what happened. And while this proved that Raven no longer had control of herself, neither even thought to say so; it was evident that Raven realized this herself.

"She hates me," she whispered softly.

"You do not know that," Starfire said gently.

"She said so. And after this, she'll want to kill me."

"That's not true, Raven," Nightwing told her.

"I wouldn't blame her," Raven went on, not listening.

"Raven!" Nightwing's raised voice finally drew her attention. "You don't need to be talking like that," he said more gently.

"Nightwing, I _hurt_ her!" she wailed. "I could have _killed_ her! I hate myself, and she already hated me." She stood up. "I need to go." Before they could stop her, Raven teleported out of the common room.

Raven went to visit her emotions. To her surprise, they were all there to greet her. Even Anger. Surprising her further, they all (including Anger) hugged her. She couldn't hold it together any longer (not that she'd been holding it together too well before that); she broke down completely and cried out her heart and soul. She had no sensation of how much time passed, but eventually the wracking sobs gave way to hitching, tear-filled breathing and finally to silence. All of her emotions let go and stood up; except for Anger.

"I'm so sorry," the emotion whispered, angry at herself. "I warned you what was happening, but I wasn't strong enough to stop it."

"It's not your fault," she whispered. "It's mine. All of you are tied to my powers, and I thought that controlling you was what I needed to do to control my powers. All that did was allow them to go out of control."

"Raven, the responsibility may be yours," Knowledge said, "but the fault lies elsewhere."

"We . . . we lear-learned w-who has L-Lo-Love," Timid stuttured from behind the green-clad emotion.

"It's Trigon," said an uncharacteristically subdued Happy. The mention of that name made her heart stop.

"What?" she whispered, hugging Anger to her.

"Trigon is behind all of this," Knowledge told her. "He's the one who caused those nightmares, who tricked and stole Love from us. He's the reason for all of this!"

"How did you figure that out?"

"Not easily; he did very well in covering his tracks. But he wasn't good enough. Or, rather, Courage met up with Tenacity and they hounded the shadow hiding in your mind until their refusal to quit - in spite of getting their asses kicked several times - brought it down." Knowledge's gaze hardened. "I convinced it to talk."

"He will pay for what he's done," Raven vowed quietly.

"We go to the dimension he's in, and we won't win," Knowledge told her. "He'll have all of the advantages. Power, knowledge of the dimension itself, everything."

"There's one advantage I . . . _we_ have that he won't," Raven said, looking Anger in the eyes.

"What could that possibly be?" Knowledge asked. The answer was delivered by both Raven and Anger.

"He isn't even a fraction as pissed off as we are."

After Jinx recovered, she left the Tower and the Titans behind. No word, no good-bye, just packed up some of ther stuff and left. It wasn't until the pink-haired girl had left, though, that everyone realized Raven was gone, too. They searched the damaged Tower up and down, inside and out, but she was nowhere to be found.

When Raven arrived in the dimension in which her demon father was imprisoned, he had been expecting her. But her assessment of her advantage had been correct; even as angry and vengeful as he was towards her for thwarting his attempts to take over her home dimension, it was like the flame of a candle compared to the supernova of Raven's anger. She ripped through the monsters and creatures he'd set to delay her as though they were cardboard. And when she reached him, she didn't give him a chance to monologue.

And as badly ripped apart as Blood had been when Raven had given in to her demonic heritage, it was nothing compared to what she did to the demon that had spawned her.

No more would Trigon interfere with her dimension. Or any dimension, for that matter.

_Six Months Later_

Raven entered the Titans' Tower common room and found Cyborg and Changling playing a video game with less than stellar enthusiasm. Starfire just cuddled on the couch next to Nightwing, not even paying any attention to what was happening in the game.

"Hey, guys," Raven said, startling everyone completely. Starfire shot into the air so fast she rammed through the ceiling, Nightwing fell off the couch with a loud thump, Changling turned a mouse with a scream that morphed into a squeak, and Cyborg whipped around with his sonic cannon at the ready - his game controller crushed in his other hand. Raven raised her hands up and said, "I surrender." For a split second, nothing happened. Then everyone yelled and rushed her, crushing her into a group hug. Laughing along with the others, Raven finally broke free of the embrace and stepped back.

"I'm happy to see all of you," she said, smiling.

"Where have you been gone for so long, friend Raven?" Starfire asked. "We have been missing you with much greatness."

"I . . . had to take care of some . . . family issues," she replied. "And then I had to get myself straight."

"Are you talking about Trigon?" Nightwing asked.

"Not in the present tense," she said softly. Immediately, the others guessed what she had done - and their reaction surprised her.

"That bastard was behind everything, wasn't he?" Changling growled.

"Yeah," she confirmed. "He'd been telling Blood what to do to get me to the edge, while he was infiltrating my subconscious to manipulate me via my dreams."

"Those nightmares you had," Cyborg said. "They were his fault."

"Yeah, but everything else was mine," she told them. She looked around, but knew she wouldn't be here.

"Jinx left," she said.

"After you did, we believe," Nightwing replied. "Since we didn't know when you'd left.

"There's no way she will forgive me."

"You don't know that," Changling said.

"I wish I could believe that, Changling, I really do," Raven said wistfully. "But I said some cruel things to her when we fought, and then I almost slammed her into a wall. I could have killed her."

"Well, we're all glad you're back," Nightwing said.

That night, Nightwing found Raven standing atop the Tower.

"I thought you'd be up here," he said, coming up next to her.

"One of the quietest places here," she replied.

"You should know that the H.I.V.E. Five are back," he told her. "And Jinx is leading them again."

"I'm not surprised," she answered. "I hurt her badly. Not just physically, either. Those kind of wounds can heal."

"We'll have to fight them one day."

"Don't hurt Jinx."

"Raven, we'll have to stop her."

"No."

"Raven-"

"You stop the other four; let her come to me."

"If what you said is true, and I'm not doubting you, then she'll try to kill you."

"I know."

"Don't use too much force stopping her."

"I don't plan on stopping her."

"_What?_" he said incredulously. "Raven, if she's going to try to kill you, then you _have_ to stop her!"

"Nightwing," she said, looking him in the eye, "I deserve whatever she does to me."

"I won't let that happen!"

"It's not your choice."

"You can't do this!"

"I can, and I will," she said with finality. "And I want you to promise not to stop her until she's done."

"I can't! I can't do that!"

"Promise me."

"Raven."

She just looked at him. Sighing, he gave in - as they had both known he would. "Fine," he said, "I promise."

The others, when they learned what Raven planned to do, reacted just like Nightwing had. But in the end, they all promised not to get involved - no matter what.

**Author's Note 2:** And there you have it. The chapter that explains how the prologue came about. I hope I met everyone's expectations for this; I know that's one reason why y'all kept reading it. Once again, I apologize for how long it took to get this out; I wanted to do right by you, the readers. Please let me know if you liked it - or not. Though I hope you did.

**In The Next Chapter:** Next time, you will learn what happens _after_ 'This Beginning Could Be The End'. Saying anything more would be giving spoilers this time. Guess you'll have to read it to find out. :D


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M. Also, I do not own "Leave Out All The Rest" by Linkin Park, which is not only the title of the epilogue but also the inspiration for it.

**Author's Note:** Now that you all know what happened to make Jinx so angry with Raven, it's time to see what happened _after_ Raven passed out.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Epilogue - Leave Out All The Rest**

_"Raven?" Jinx whispered apprehensively. She felt as though her heart was being crushed to nothing as she watched Raven's one semi-open eye slowly close. "Raven?" she said louder. And as realization stole over her, she clutched the woman she loved tighter to her and screamed out, "RAVEN!"_

Jinx refused to let Raven go; fortunately, Starfire was more than strong enough to carry them both to the Tower's infirmary. She and Jinx hurriedly did what they could to stabilize Raven until Cyborg, who was better trained in the medical gear of the Tower, could get there. They actually didn't have too long to wait; after they'd finished putting an IV line into Raven, and hooking up a blood pouch (it had been labeled 'RAVEN') to the line - along with a dose of antibiotics, Cyborg, Nightwing, and Changling burst in to the infirmary. Nightwing had to get Jinx away from the bed so Cyborg could get to Raven, but she proved to be stronger than he was expecting. Starfire came over and laid her hands on Jinx's, causing the frantic, pink-haired hex girl to look at her.

"She will be fine now," the Tamaranian told her gently. "Cyborg will do everything he can and more to heal her. But we must leave so he can do so."

"But-" she began.

"It'll be alright, Jinx," Nightwing said, easing his grip on her shoulders.

"You don't know that," she whispered, tears falling down her face again, her heart feeling as though it was being consumed by an aching nothingness.

"You're right," he agreed. "But I do know that Cyborg won't give up. All we can do right now is get in the way."

Reluctantly, Jinx allowed herself to be led out of the infirmary. She expected to be taken to a cell, or at least Nightwing's office, but they went in the wrong direction for that; Nightwing and Starfire led her into the common room. Going to the couch, Starfire sat Jinx down and then took a seat right beside her, while Nightwing sat just a little bit away. For a few moments, nobody spoke.

"What have I done?" Jinx whispered almost inaudibly.

"You were hurt in spirit, Jinx," Starfire told her. "That is not an easy thing to do the getting over of."

"It's no excuse," she replied despondently. "No matter what she did to me, she didn't deserve what I did to her."

"She thought differently, you know," Nightwing said, causing Jinx's gaze to snap to him.

"What?"

"She . . . disappeared around the same time you did," he explained. "We didn't know that she'd gone until after you left. She didn't leave a note or a clue to here whereabouts, so we had no idea what was going on." Before she could ask the obvious question, he went on. "She came back six months later . . . different. At peace with herself."

"But what happened to her?" Jinx asked, desperate to know.

"She confronted her father."

"What? Why?"

"Those nightmares she was having? Her growing distance from you, the one person who meant everything to her? He was behind it all, manipulating her through her subconscious," Nightwing answered.

"So none of it was her fault?"

"Fault, no. But she was responsible for her actions." He sighed. "I know you still love her, and that's why your pain was so great. But Raven's pain was just as great. She hated herself for what she'd done, for what she'd allowed herself to become. Back to what I was saying earlier. When she came back, she wanted only one thing: closure with you. She knew how you would be feeling about her, and what you probably would do if the two of you ever met again."

"And she still came to face me," Jinx said slowly, her heart aching even more. "Why didn't any of you stop me? Why didn't she?"

"She told you why she would not," Starfire replied. "And . . . she made all of us promise not to. We did try to convince her otherwise, but in the end we had to promise. She would have gone to you - and your new Hive Five - alone if we hadn't."

"And because of me, now she's dying in the infirmary," Jinx said, feeling crushed and broken.

"I wish I could tell you otherwise, Jinx," Nightwing said regretfully.

"I know," she replied, sniffling. "And I suppose this is the part where you tell me that I have to be imprisoned, isn't it?"

"Not . . . exactly." That slight hesitation gave Jinx hope for strange reason. "If she manages to pull through, we could put you on something like community service," he explained. "You know, you agree to work for us and you don't go to prison; something along those lines."

"And if . . . . if she . . . dies?" the twice-reformed villain asked.

"Then you may have to go to prison," he told her. "But know that we'll do what we can to at least avoid the death penalty."

"Either way, it's better than I deserve."

There was a cough from the common room's doorway, and the three of them turned around to see Cyborg and Changling. Jinx felt her heart jump to her throat and the bottom fall out of her stomach.

"She's awake," Cyborg said. "And she's asking for Jinx."

Less than a minute later, Jinx was at Raven's side, holding her beloved's hand. Raven blinked her eyes and squinted, trying to focus past the oxygen mask. Upon recognizing Jinx's face, a smile formed on her face that made Jinx's heart soar.

"Hey," she said hoarsely.

"Hey yourself, Sweets," Jinx replied, smiling even as tears made their way down her cheeks. Her eyes widened as Raven's hand shakily rose up to brush the tears away.

"No . . . crying, 'kay?" she said, taking a deep breath.

"I don't want you to die," she said, her eyes watering up again. Raven just kept smiling.

"I wanted . . . to tell you . . . that I love you," the injured girl said, "and . . . that I'm sorry for . . . what I did."

"It was as much my fault as it was yours," her beloved said. "If I had pressed you when it all started-"

"Hush," Raven interrupted. Taking a deep breath, she tried to continue. "It doesn't . . . matter anymore, my love. We . . . both messed up."

"But you could die because of me!" Jinx whispered fiercely, her sorrow and grief coating her tone.

"If I do, then I would . . . rather die at the hands of . . . the only person who means more . . . to me than anything that . . . could exist than from . . . anything else." Raven tried to laugh, but it came out as a bunch of coughs. Once she'd calmed down, she said, "Sorry. I was just . . . thinking about how I . . . wish I could give you . . . a kiss right now."

Jinx smiled at that and said, "It's the thought that counts, right?"

"Yeah."

"I wish I could do something to help you," she said softly, "but my power is bad luck."

"I don't . . . agree."

"It is, though."

"It can't be . . . bad luck if it . . . brought us together," Raven told her. "And . . . I'm hurt too bad . . . for my powers to work . . . right on healing me."

Jinx opened her mouth to speak when an idea struck her. Her powers . . . Raven's powers . . . her powers . . . . . Jinx's eyes grew wide.

"That's it," she whispered.

"What's . . . it?" Raven asked.

"Our powers," the other girl said, looking down at her beloved. "My powers wouldn't work right for this, and you're too weak for your powers to heal you without draining your energy. What if we used them both together?"

"How?"

Jinx clasped Raven's hand with both of her own, and said, "You use my energy, my powers, to strengthen yours."

"It could . . . kill us both . . . if it fails," was the labored reply.

"Then we'd better not fail."

The first clue that the other Titans had that anything was going on was when the entire floor seemed to shake. Shortly after that, an alarm went off warning of a detection of enormous power readings - from the infirmary. _Oh, shit!_ they all thought at the same time, and rushed to the infirmary. But when they got there, they couldn't get in. It didn't matter that they could unscramble the scrambled security code of the electronic lock; the locking mechanism had become fused from the intensity of the energy flaring up in the infirmary.

"Raven! Jinx!" Nightwing shouted. "Let us in!"

"Move!" Cyborg yelled, raising his sonic cannon. Rather than blasting through the door, the almost point-blank shot exploded against it, the force knocking all four of them away from it. Changling turned into a bull and tried ramming the door, only to knock himself out. Starfire tried busting through the door by punching it with every once of force she possessed; she only ended up denting the door.

"RAVEN! JINX!"

"Leave Out All The Rest" - Linkin Park

_I dreamed I was missing_

_You were so scared_

_But no one would listen_

_Cause no one else cared_

_After my dreaming_

_I woke with this fear_

_What am I leaving_

_When I'm done here?_

_So, if you're asking me, I want you to know_

_Don't be afraidWhen my time comes_

_Forget the wrong that I've done_

_Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed_

_And don't resent me_

_And when you're feeling empty_

_Keep me in your memory_

_Leave out all the rest_

_Leave out all the rest_

_I've taken my beating_

_I've shed but I'm me_

_I'm strong on the surface_

_Not all the way through_

_I've never been perfect_

_But neither have you_

_So, if you're asking me, I want you to know_

_When my time comes_

_Forget the wrong that I've done_

_Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed_

_And don't resent me_

_And when you're feeling empty_

_Keep me in your memory_

_Leave out all the rest_

_Leave out all the rest_

_Forgetting_

_All the hurt inside you've learned to hide so well_

_Pretending_

_Someone else can come and save me from myself_

_I can't be who you are_

_When my time comes_

_Forget the wrong that I've done_

_Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed_

_And don't resent me_

_And when you're feeling empty_

_Keep me in your memory_

_Leave out all the rest_

_Leave out all the rest_

_Forgetting_

_All the hurt inside you've learned to hide so well_

_Pretending_

_Someone else can come and save me from myself_

_I can't be who you are_

_I can't be who you are_

Written by Chester Bennington, Robert Bourdon, Brad Delson, Mike Shinoda, Dave Farrell, and Joseph Hahn


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** I bet y'all thought that was the end, huh?

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Epilogue 2 - This End Could Be The Beginning**

_Ten Years Later_

"Dad, do we _have_ to be here?" Nightfire asked her father.

"It's the New Titans' reunion, Nightfire," Nightwing said, smiling at his daughter. "Besides, I thought you liked visiting your friends."

"I do," the eight-year-old grudgingly admitted, "but nothing fun ever happens at your parties."

"Hey," her father retorted playfully, enjoying his daughter's laughter. Nightwing brought his modified jet - which he called the _Nighthawk_ - to a landing inside the hanger bay of Titan Tower. Except for Cyborg, his wife Bumblebee, and their son (who liked to call himself Stinger), none of the Titans lived at the Tower anymore.

"It will be good to see everyone again," Starfire said from the co-pilot's seat. "A year is much too long to wait for all of us to be together again."

"Do you miss being a Titan, mom?" Nightfire asked. The Tamaranian woman smiled at her daughter.

"I never stopped, Nightfire," she replied. "But I do regret the team going its seperate ways so many years ago."

"Cyborg said he had a surprise for everyone," Nightwing said as he shut the advanced aircraft down and popped the canopy. "Maybe it'll be more than a reunion."

"Yo, Nightwing!" came a familiar shout.

"Cyborg!" he returned, vaulting out of the jet even as Starfire picked up their daughter and floated out. The two men exchanged high fives and a complicated handshake of some kind.

"It's been too long, man!" the mechanical Titan said, grinning hugely.

"Starfire was just saying the same thing," he agreed, as his wife and daughter drifted down next to him.

"Star! You're lookin' good, girl!" he said, hugging her. She laughed happily and returned her friend's hug. Letting go in time to catch a leaping girl, Cyborg twirled the child around and said, "Nightfire! You're getting bigger every time I see you!"

"Uncle Cyborg!" she squealed, hugging him almost as fiercely as her mom used to.

"Hey, Cyborg," Nightwing said, looking around. "Where are Bumblebee and Stinger?"

"They're in the common room with Changling, Lavender, and Phase," he replied. Nightwing shook his head.

"I'll never understand how those two even got along, never mind how they fell in love," he said, still in disbelief almost ten years after their wedding. "A tofu-eating shape-shifter and a meat-loving plant manipulator. Who would've thought?"

Greetings were exchanged amongst all of the Titans after Cyborg led Nightwing and his family into the common room. Everybody spent the next several minutes catching up with each other over the events of the past year. The adults regaled their children with tales of their adventures as Teen Titans. Cyborg had refitted one of the old training rooms for the kids, and all three of them ran off to it, giggling and shouting; Nightfire kept trying to catch Phase, but he just kept shifting out of phase and making her pass through him.

"Hard to believe we've become parents, isn't it?" Changling said, putting an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Sometimes," she agreed, giving her green-skinned husband a kiss on the cheek. "But it's harder to believe that there was any other possibility."

"I have to agree with you there, Lavender," Cyborg said. "Best thing that could've happened to us."

"I do wish Raven and Jinx could be here," Starfire said sadly, missing two of her closest friends.

"We all do, Star," Nightwing agreed, hugging her closely.

"I heard about all that trouble that happened ten years ago," Bumblebee said. "I wish I could've been here to help those two girls out. Maybe things could've ended differently."

"Believe me," Changling said, "we all wanted things to end differently. But the 'what ifs' and 'maybes' can't change the past."

"Though we still wish we could," Lavender added. Her skin had a faint green tint to it, kind of like a variation of the albino skin tone, and her hair was the shade of color that was her name. Everyone fell silent for a moment, thinking about their two absent friends.

"Cyborg, when you called us to make the arrangements for this year's reunion," Nightwing began," you mentioned something about having a surprise for us."

"Lavender and I were wondering about that, too," Changling agreed.

"I did, didn't I?" Cyborg mused, an enigmatic smile on his face.

"We all know it wasn't that play room you set up for our kids," the former leader of the New Titans went on. "Though that _was_ a surprise, it's not the surprise you have for us, is it?"

"You're right about that," Bumblebee said. "It isn't."

"You will share with us this mysterious surprise, please?" Starfire asked.

"I planned on it," Cyborg told her. "But not right now. It's for later."

As usual, when it came time for supper, there was an argument about what to cook. Barbeque equipment was set up on the Tower's roof, along a force field to make sure the kids didn't get too close to the edge. This time, however, it was a two-to-one argument; Cyborg and Lavender were the two, and Changling was the one. In the end, a compromise was reached: Changling could have his tofu dishes, but everyeone else was having 'real food', as his wife and best friend put it. Cyborg's culinary skills had only improved with time, and he made a damn good barbequed steak. When desert was served after dinner, it was an expensive and imported ice cream along with a similarly imported and equally expensive brownie-type dish. As everyone finished their desert - the three kids with great reluctance - Cyborg stood up and asked for everyone's attention.

"Alright, y'all, listen up," he said, looking around. "It's time for the surprise you've been expecting all day."

"You mean it wasn't the ice cream?" Nightfire pouted. Everyone laughed at her disappointment.

"Sorry, girl, it wasn't that," Cyborg said, grinning at his 'niece'. "It's something better, though you kids might not think so."

"C'mon, Cyborg!" Changling pestered. "You're killing us with the suspense!"

"At least it would shut you up for a few blessed minutes," replied someone that neither Nightwing, Starfire, nor Changling had ever expected to hear from again. Everyone's eyes immediately snapped toward the elevator that led back down into the Tower. Eyes widened to the size of tea saucers and jaws hit the roof. Standing in front of the now closing elevator doors were two people who had disappeared ten years ago.

"RAVEN! JINX!" everyone but Cyborg and Bumblebee shouted.

"Hey, guys," Jinx said, waving at them. She and Raven headed towards the table, though Raven seemed to be having a little trouble. It wasn't until they were almost at the table that Nightwing and the others realized that there was someone with her. Raven smiled broadly and pulled her jacket aside, revealing for an instant (before she hid behind her mother) a little girl.

"Who is that, Raven?" Nightwing asked.

"Our daughter, duh!" Jinx growled playfully.

"Shadow, you don't need to hide," Raven said, gently pulling her daughter out from behind her. To say everyone was surprise would have been like saying the sun was hot; it was the truth, but it wasn't too accurate. The girl named Shadow had Raven's skin and hair color, but Jinx's eyes. "These are our friends. Say hello."

"H-hi," the nine-and-a-half-year-old stuttered shyly, not meeting anyone's gaze.

"Oh, how adorable!" Starfire exclaimed, floating over to the little girl. Shadow drew back a little, but was fascinated with the Tamaranian woman. "My name is Starfire."

"I-I'm Shadow," she replied, shyly. That broke the ice for her, and soon everyone was talking to her. Raven and Jinx looked on, beaming with pride. She was also introduced to the kids of the other Titans, and was slowly drawn out of her shell. Nightfire, especially, took a liking to the gray-skinned girl, and convinced her to come with them to the small play area Cyborg and Nightwing had set up on the Tower's roof. As the children went off to play, the adults went back to table and sat down. Everyone had lots of questions the two previously missing Titans, and no one knew where to start.

"I suppose you guys are curious about what happened to us," Raven said, breaking the silence.

"You have no idea," Nightwing said dryly.

"It's . . . a little difficult to explain," the goth girl replied. "I was dying, there was no doubt about that. I lacked the energy to use my power to heal myself, and Jinx's powers weren't any good at healing."

"So it looked like we would lose each other again," Jinx said, picking up where her wife had left off. "And then an idea hit me: I didn't have the power to heal her, and she didn't have the energy to heal herself, so why not let her use my energy?"

"So _that's_ why the systems picked up a massive surge of unknown power," Nightwing said in understanding. Looking at the two women, he added, "But that doesn't explain what happened to the two of you. When we finally managed to break open the door to the infirmary, every single piece of equipment in there was melted or vaporized, and both of you were gone."

"That part is where things get a little fuzzy . . . for both of us," Raven answered. "There is a gap in both of our memories from the moment our powers began merging to when we found ourselves outside of a monastery of some sort."

"The monks there took us in," Jinx went on. "We were made welcome there, with nothing asked of us. We learned that a group of bandits had been plaguing the monks, stealing their hard-earned food and sometimes killing one of them."

"So we decided to protect the monastery," Raven continued. "It wasn't until a few weeks later that we realized I was somehow pregnant - and was almost five months along."

"How could you have become pregnant?" Starfire asked, confused. "You are both female, and I thought it was not possible for one woman to make another with child."

"That's something we can't explain, either," Jinx replied. "We believe it may have had something to do with that unexplainable gap in our memories."

"However it happened doesn't really matter," Lavender said. "What matters is that you two have a daughter, a hope for the future."

"Cyborg, how did you know they were alive?" Nightwing asked, with Changling nodding in agreement.

"They contacted me about six or so months ago," the cybernetic Titan responded. "Almost passed out because I thought I was getting a comm from beyond the grave." Everyone had a good laugh at that.

"How come you two didn't tell us you were alive before now?" Changling asked them.

"We wanted to get ourselves straightened out first," Raven said. "After all, we did screw everything up between us pretty badly."

"But almost ten years?"

"Well, after Shadow was born, we were kind of occupied the first five years," Jinx said dryly. "And after that, we learned that you four had gone your seperate ways. Things were going great for us, and all of you seemed to be doing fine, so we just decided to wait. Then, about six months ago like Cyborg said, we decided to let you all know we were still alive."

"Between the two of us, we managed to get my old communicator working again," Raven said, "and called the Tower. I was thankful that the computer still recognized my communicator's signal, even though the codes and all were ten years out of date."

"Well, enough with the 'interrogation'," Nightwing said with a grin. "As was said before, it's good to have you two back."

"It's good to _be_ back," Raven and Jinx said in unison. They looked at each other in surprise, then burst out laughing.

"Do you two have a place to stay now?" Lavender asked. They shook their heads.

"Not really," Raven said. "We decided not to stay at the monastery any longer when we decided to come here."

"We were thinking about renting an apartment here in Jump City for the short term," Jinx explained.

"I don't think so," Bumblebee told them. "We kept y'all's rooms cleaned and all that, so why don't you three live here in the Tower?"

"Really?" Raven asked, surprised and touched by the offer.

"Sure," Cyborg said. "You and Jinx can move back into your old room, and we can set up Jinx's old room for Shadow."

"I . . . We . . . don't know what to say," Jinx said, moved by their friends' offer.

"You'll say 'yes' if you know what's good for you," Nightwing said with mock severity. Everyone laughed again.

"We'd be glad to come back."

Meanwhile, miles and miles away in an unassuming apartment in Gotham City, a blond-haired woman with bright blue eyes was smiling as she watched her daughter playing. The nine-and-a-half-year-old girl had unknowingly saved her mother's life before she had even been born. Once she'd found out she was pregnant, she knew she couldn't continue the life she'd been living up to that point. And so she'd simply left. She'd managed to get a decent job in spite of her pregnancy, and her new boss had given her maternity leave - with pay - even though she'd worked there for less than a year.

Now, she was the happiest - and sanest - she'd ever been in her life.

The next day, in the afternoon edition of the _Gotham Gazette_, the front page showed an article about a single mother that had been found dead in her apartment by a neighbor coming to see about borrowing some laundry detergent. According to the article, the woman had been identified as Harley Quinn, who had been a former psychiatric specialist at Arkham Asylum. She had been working at a subsidiary company of Wayne Enterprises for almost ten years, and had been a single mother. Her only child, Hayley Quinn, was reported missing. The Gotham City Police Department found no trace of her in the apartment, and has issued a missing persons report for the nine-year-old.

**Author's Note 2:** Now how's them apples? (lol) I figured y'all would want a better conclusion to the story than what I put in the first epilogue - since I _did_ intentionally end it with that cliffhanger ending. This chapter _is_ the end of **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**, so I hope everyone enjoyed it.

**Disclaimer 2:** The characters of Nightfire, Stinger, Phase, and Shadow are my own original characters for this (so far as I know). The last mentioned child, Hayley Quinn, is the 'real name' or 'alias' that I came up with for Artemis, the character created by Echo of an Idiot for his story **Second Chances** (which I recommend reading, by the way, if you haven't already). I will be using a reinterpretation of Artemis, with permission from Echo, in a direct sequel to **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**.

**Author's Note 3:** Once again, let me thank everyone who reviewed this story as it was being posted. Your reviews helped keep this story going, and got me past a couple of rough spots. I'd like to thank Echo of an Idiot not only giving it its first review, but for giving such a dramatic first review. LilithRyoka, thanks for the insightful review. It helped somewhat to shape this second epilogue. Aslan Leon, your reviews were fun to read. Eagle wolf05, it's not how often you review, but what you put when you do; and your reviews were appreciated. RosettaStone123, thanks for being the second person to review this story. ElDragonRojoX, I'm glad you liked that first chapter enough to say it impressed you and drew you in right away. JDT Productions, I hope the rest of it met with your approval. I hope all of you enjoyed reading **Nothing Is Harder Than Love** as much as I enjoyed writing it.

**Until the next time . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series, and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. It will be a Raven x Jinx pairing, along with the Robin x Starfire pairing established by the series and movie. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. Same thing if you don't like the Raven x Jinx pairing. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place.

**A/N:** I never expected to be adding another chapter to this story. Especially since it's completed. But earlier today I was thinking about starting a new Teen Titans series once I (eventually) finish The Book of Artemis, and I remembered a PM from EmberOfSoul1323. Here's part of what she said: "I at least expected to see a good comfort chapter where Jinx holds a completely broken down Raven." Well, it took a while, Ember, but here it is.

**Nothing Is Harder Than Love**

**Bonus Chapter 1 - What You Mean To Me**

_(Note: This chapter occurs between chapters 5 and 6.)_

Jinx was still surprised at the acceptance Raven's friends showed of her. Obviously, because of her relationship with Terra, they were accepting of the fact that the gray-skinned girl was a lesbian. Robin had been the most surprising of all, though. She'd had encounters with him before, back when she was a villain, and he'd always come across as an obsessive douchebag. Maybe he'd really been concerned about Raven after Terra's death. Right now, she was sitting in her room, marveling at the fact that it was _hers_ and she could lock it if she wanted to. Nobody was going to check up on her to make sure she wasn't going back to her old villainous ways, nobody was going to monitor her for any reason whatsoever. That degree of trust - and trust is what it was - touched her, and she didn't want to ruin that. There weren't many people who would trust her nowadays, even if she'd sided with the good guys after her attempt to capture Kid Flash. Since it was 'down time' right now, she was wearing only a pair of pink panties and a black tanktop, along with a pair of black and pink knee-high socks. She'd also let her hair down from its customary style. She honestly didn't know what to do right now, since she didn't have to worry if she'd made a payment in time, or what she was going to eat. Raven said she was going to meditate right now, but that Jinx was more than welcome to join her if she wanted. Shrugging, she walked over to her closet and pulled out a pair of purple pajama pants and slipped into them, before leaving her room.

Raven was, indeed, meditating. The knock on her door, though, snapped her out of it; there was only one person who'd 'bother' her while she was meditating, and a smile appeared on her face.

"Come in," she said, rotating around in mid-air to face the door as Jinx walked in.

"Okay, that is _so_ cool," the sorceress said.

"I usually meditate like this."

"I've never been around you when you've meditated, Sweets." As usual, Raven blushed at the name, bringing a tender smirk to her girlfriend's face. "So, what do you do?"

"Well, um, I . . . I've never been asked before," Raven admitted. "I meditate to help keep my emotions, and my powers, in check. I . . . I try to find my center, and be a . . . well, a pool of calm."

"Sounds pretty cool," Jinx told her.

"Really?"

"Yeah. My powers tend to be a little chaotic, but that's how they are."

"I . . . I always liked it when . . . when we - the Titans, that is - would fight against you and the Hive Five."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Now she was really blushing. "It meant I got to be around you."

"So you _already_ liked me?"

"I liked fighting against you, yeah. I, well, I guess I was kind of crushing on you, though I didn't know it then. And . . . and then I kind of forgot about it all."

"When Terra came around?"

"Well, yeah."

"Hey, it's cool. I don't mind, honest."

"It wasn't love at first sight, though. I didn't like her because . . . because she just _used_ her powers. She didn't have any control over them so sometimes she'd lose control, or would overdo it. And when she came back . . ."

"That's when things changed?"

"Yes. Something was different about the two of us, and we . . . we fell in love."

"You don't have to talk about it if it's hard for you to do so; I'd like to hear more about her, so don't think I'm trying to make you stop."

"I haven't been able to talk to _anyone_ about her since . . . since she died."

Jinx hugged her girlfriend. "Then I'm happy you've shared that with me," she said, kissing her on the cheek. "Now, let's go hang out."

They did just that. They went to the cafe, sat at 'their' table and just chatted about different things. Then they went to 'their' park and walked around in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company - and holding each other's hand. They had dressed fairly normally, looking for all the world like two regular teenage girls in love, though with each other. Afterwards, they went back to the Tower for supper with the rest of the Titans and just enjoyed each other's company. And then they reluctantly parted ways for bed.

_"Terra!" Raven shouted. "Come on! We've got to get out of here! We've got to get everyone out of the city!" They were in the underground cavern where Terra had broken free of Slade's control and annihilated him. But she'd unleashed so much power that a volcano had awakened, and threatened to destroy Jump City._

_"I can stop this, Raven. I'm the only one who can," Terra replied, her voice full of sorrow._

_"It's too late, Terra," she told her, walking up to her. The geomancer gives her a sad smile._

_"It's never too late, remember?" She reaches out and pulls Raven close to her. It was perfectly natural for the goth Titan to wrap her arms around the blond girl, who returned the embrace without a second thought. When they pull back, both have tears in their eyes, though Raven is openly crying. "You are the only girl I could ever love," Terra whispered to her, before leaning in again and this time kissing her. Then she gently pushes Raven away. "Now go, get out of here. Let me do this, Raven. It won't make up for what I've done, but I can make sure the city doesn't suffer any more because of me." Raven still doesn't try to leave, so the others pull her out of there. She doesn't resist, nor does she help; she just allows herself to be pulled along, feeling her heart shatter as she watches Terra fade away . . ._

Jinx snapped awake as she heard a scream. Recognizing the voice, she's out of her bed and her room before she's aware of it and pounding on Raven's door.

"Raven!" she yelled. "Raven!" The screams, and her yells, got everyone else's attention, too, because shortly they were all there. "It's locked!" she said, turning around.

"I can override it," Cyborg said, "but it'll take a little time."

"I'm not waiting," Jinx growled, her eyes glowing pink. Then she whirled around and hit the door's control with a burst of bad luck. It short-circuited and the door opened, Jinx being the first one in, Cyborg right behind her. They both saw the same thing, at the same time, and the semi-robotic Titan turned around and pushed the others back out.

"We have to see if Raven's okay!" Robin said, starting to get angry.

"This something Jinx needs to handle," he replied firmly. "Alone." And the Boy Wonder figured out what he meant, then, and agreed.

"Come on, guys," the black-haired teen said. "Let's go back to bed. Jinx'll let us know if everything's okay." As they left, though, Robin looked back at the now closing door to Raven's room and thought, _You better take care of her, Jinx. I don't think she can handle having her heart broken again._

Back in Raven's room, Jinx hurried over to her girlfriend, who was wedged into a corner of her room, heart-wrenching tears spilling down her face, surrounded by the glow of her powers.

"Raven?" she called out. She ducked her head to one side when a burst of dark energy shot at her. "Raven, it's okay. It's me, Jinx." At this, the half-demon girl seemed to regain her focus and clarity and looked at her.

"J-Jinx?" she stammered.

"That's right," the pink-haired girl said softly, kneeling down right in front of the distraught girl. "Your girlfriend. What's wrong, Sweets?" At the use of the nickname, Raven's eyes welled up again but this time she threw herself at Jinx, wrapping her arms around the other girl in a panic-fueled grip. The hex-powered teen automatically wrapped her arms around her, pulling her in close and holding her tight. Though she desperately wanted to know what could have possibly made Raven so upset, right now she sensed that she needed to be held and comforted more than anything else so that's what she did. She began making soothing noises, cooing almost, like a mother would do for her baby. She held Raven's head at the crook of her shoulder and neck, and caressed her hair in a gentle, calming, and loving manner. She didn't know how much time had passed, nor did she care; she would have stayed like this for days if that is what it would take to calm her girlfriend, her love, down. And it did happen. Eventually, Raven's tears and sobs slowed down, then stopped. Jinx's tanktop was soaking wet on the left side from the crying, but she didn't care. When Raven pulled back, her eyes were red from all of the tears she'd just said.

"I . . . I-I'm sorry, J-Jinx," she said, her voice breaking from trying to catch her breath. The other girl reached one a single gray finger and placed it on Raven's lips.

"You've nothing to apologize for, Raven," she said softly. A smile slowly blossomed on her face, one of love and concern. Then she stood up and held out a hand to her. "Now, let's get on your bed. It'll be more comfortable than the floor." Raven reached out a shaking hand and found herself gently pulled to her feet. Her knees were wobbly from the exhausting crying, but Jinx was there to steady her and lend her the strong shoulder she needed to get back to her bed. The pink-haired girl helped her girlfriend back into the bed and covered her up before sitting on the bed, outside the sheets, next to her.

"Do you . . . want to talk about it?" Jinx asked. "You don't have to if you'd rather not."

"I-it's okay," Raven replied. "I . . . I had a dream. About . . . about Terra."

"Did I . . . was it my fault?"

"No, no it wasn't. I've . . . I've been having dreams about her ever since she died. Some of them are memories of the times we had together, some are fantasies about what could have been . . . and others are nightmares."

"This one was a nightmare."

"Yeah. It started out with the last time I'd seen her alive, as a Teen Titan. Back when she had worked for Slade. She'd betrayed us all, and did her best to kill us – even me. That broke my heart. Badly. But in the end, she turned on Slade and destroyed him. And that's when the dream started. She'd used a tremendous amount of power to break free of Slade and destroy him, and it had caused a volcano to erupt in this underground cavern, one that threatened to destroy the city. I . . . I tried to get her to come with us, to help us evacuate as much of the city as we could. She . . . she said she couldn't come, that she had to stop it, that she was the only one who could. The rest of the team pulled me away, because I couldn't move."

"That . . . that must have been terrible," Jinx told her, wrapping her arms around her.

"In . . . in the dream, I watched her die. I watched as she pulled her power into her, and used it to stop the volcano. She . . . she turned to stone. I tried to run to her, to get to her before it was too late . . . But no matter how fast I flew, or how hard I ran, I could never make it. I had to watch her die, over and over. And . . . and then . . . you were there, calling my name." Raven started crying again, but more gently this time, and Jinx pulled her closer.

"Shhh," she said, stroking Raven's hair again. "Shhh, it's okay."

"I . . . I got your shirt all wet," the other girl said. Jinx couldn't help it; she giggled. That seemed to trigger something and soon both girls were giggling madly, trying not to break out into full-on laughter because they didn't want to wake the others back up. When they'd managed to calm themselves down, Jinx looked at Raven and caught her eye. Not breaking eye contact, she slipped her tanktop off and sat there in only her panties. Raven was now trying her hardest to keep her eyes locked onto Jinx's, though the other could tell she wanted to look.

"Go ahead," she said quietly. "You can look." And Raven did. Jinx was kneeling there, a faint blush on her cheeks, her arms held near her stomach so her small breasts were exposed to Raven's eyes. She was surprised to find that the cute nipples capping her perky breasts were a bright pink. As she lifted her gaze back up to her girlfriend's eyes, she met Jinx's kiss. When Jinx pulled away, Raven let out a little moan of disappointment.

"I don't think tonight's a good night for that," the pink-haired girl said, "though I won't deny that I want it. I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of you, and I don't want you to feel guilty later."

"I . . . I don't want to be alone right now."

"I can stay with you, for as long as you need me to." There was a slight hesitancy there at the end.

"What is it, Jinx?"

"Sweets . . . Raven. I don't want to ask this, but-"

"You're wondering if . . . if I'm using you to fill in the space where Terra was, if you're replacing her."

"I wouldn't have put it exactly like that, but yeah."

Raven nodded. "I . . . I guessed you might have been thinking that," she said, sighing. "And . . . that was the first thought to cross my mind. But . . . but then we started hanging around more, and talking, and I grew to like you for you. To . . . to start loving _you_. I don't think I'll ever forget Terra-"

"And I don't think you should," Jinx interrupted.

"-but I can't hold on to a ghost from the past. Terra's moved on. She can't hold me anymore, comfort me when . . . when I have nightmares, or hold my hand for no reason whatsoever. _You_ can. I don't want to be with you because you could take Terra's place; no one could to that, really. I want to be with you because of you, because you fill a void in my life that _needs_ to be filled."

"Thanks, Raven," she said. "I . . . I needed to hear that." And she hugged her girlfriend for a second before getting up and walking over to Raven's closet. Pulling out a black shirt, she turned around and asked, "You don't mind, do you?"

"Go ahead," she replied, smiling. Jinx slipped the shirt on and crawled back onto the bed – but under the covers with Raven. She enfolded Raven in her arms and held her close, staying awake until she was sure the other girl was sound asleep, peacefully. Then she allowed herself to fall asleep, unconsciously tightening her embrace.

_I'll never let you go, Raven. You mean too much to me to lose._

**E/N:** What a chapter. Many, many thanks to EmberOfSoul1323 for her wonderful idea. This gives a further glimpse into the relationship between Raven and Jinx, and helps show how Raven was able to move past her memories of Terra and develop a relationship with Jinx.


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